Gryffindor vs Slytherin
by Kolibri Halliwell
Summary: Draco's hiding something from Hermione and when she finds a secret letter in his drawer, she gets into more trouble than she could ever imagine... Continuation to "What A Surprise." A Review would be very nice, thank you.
1. Lucky Star

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin This story is the continuation to "What A Surprise".  
  
Title: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Author: Kolibri Halliwell  
  
E-mail: kolibrihalliwell@hotmail.com  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Summary: Draco's hiding something from Hermione and when she finds a secret letter in his drawer, she gets into more trouble than she could ever imagine...  
  
Dedicated to: Doc Holliday, the love of my life.  
  
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the rest of the characters in the Harry Potter series do not belong to me. They belong to J. K. Rowling as well as Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc.  
  
~Lucky star~  
  
"Draco, this is nuts." she whispered softly and looked at him. "I hate you, remember?"  
  
"I'm sure you won't after this." he replied and leaned over to kiss her neck. The both of them were lying on the library couch with books all around them. The silvery light from the moon was shining in through the window. She shut her eyes and a slight smile appeared on her lips. But then she pulled herself out of his grip and stood up.  
  
"We need some distance." she said and slowly moved over to the table, while Draco was standing, leaning against the wall. "And we need to talk."  
  
Draco sighed and crossed his arms. "Alright, let's talk."  
  
She took a deep breath. "OK, I don't know what exactly happened here, but..."  
  
"We kissed and we almost made love." Draco said simply. "Until you had to spoil it all."  
  
"Draco..." she said and looked at him.  
  
"Hermione." he answered. His eyes met hers and locked. Then he started to walk towards her with a caution. "Do you regret what has happened?"  
  
She shook her head. "No." she said weakly. Then she started to walk around the library. "It's just... I guess I'm afraid." she said sincerely.  
  
"Afraid of letting me in your heart?" Draco asked her with a shallow voice.   
  
"I guess... but it's not just it. I'm thinking about Ron. And Harry. And all our other friends. And what about your friends, what do you think they are going to say about this?"  
  
Draco shrugged. "They'll probably think I'm crazy falling in love with a Gryffindor."  
  
Hermione's face expression changed.  
  
"And there's another problem. Aren't you irritated about this whole eternal Gryffindor against Slytherin battle?"  
  
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Herm, it's been like this from the beginning. Slytherin killed Gryffindor. It's in our blood, in our history and there's nothing you can do about it."  
  
"But if there would be a way..." she said slowly. Her thread of thoughts was spinning faster and faster every minute. She guessed that she had to say thanks to this whole situation. Maybe relieving her heart of Harry and this sudden romance with Draco was helping her to gather her thoughts, strangely enough.  
  
Draco smiled slightly. "Hermione Granger, always trying to solve the world's problems." he smirked. "That's what I noticed about you the first time I saw you. Always ready to help the innocent. Gathering people in a campaign against the house elf abuse." He shook his head. "You were crazy already then. A few years haven't changed you - they've made you even worse." Hermione smiled.  
  
"Draco..." she whispered softly and walked towards him. "Why were you acting so terrible against me all the time? Why did you make me hate you?"  
  
Draco looked away, through a window. "I was jealous." After a few moments of silence he started to speak. "Didn't you think it was obvious how you loved Harry? Even a blind man could notice that. He didn't notice that though, that stupid idiot." He sighed and looked at Hermione. "When I saw how you looked at him, I got outrageous. I forced myself to hate you for that. It was just a reflex situation. I knew that you would never like me. You hated me even more then I did." he said, remembering the time when Hermione slapped him.  
  
She shrugged. "Hey, you were nasty." she said with a smile. "You called me a mudblood and you almost got Hagrid fired. That's not a piece of cake, you know."  
  
Draco sighed.  
  
Hermione shook her head. "I was that bad, wasn't I?" he said slowly. She nodded.  
  
"Yes, you were." she said. "And that's just what's good with this whole situation. You were like that; you are not the same person anymore. What changed you?"  
  
It seemed like Draco was about to answer, but then he stopped. "It's... nothing." He whispered and avoided Hermione's eyes. "Anyway... Where was I? Oh yeah, I forced myself to hate you. That's what happened."  
  
"That's a really stupid thing to do. And it's very painful. It can break your heart." she looked at him worried.  
  
Draco smiled slightly, trying to hide the emotions that were overwhelming him. "Yeah, well, let's leave the past behind us, shall we?" He took her hands and tried to believe in the words that he said himself. Hermione nodded.  
  
"I agree. But before we do that, there's something I must tell you."  
  
Draco didn't show any emotions. "Another surprise, huh? Well, Granger, it seems that you have loads of that stuff, don't you? Just spill it."  
  
Hermione took a deep breath. "On my way to the library, Harry cought up with me and... he confessed that he loved me."  
  
Draco maintained his poker - face. "And what did you say to him?"  
  
"I told him that it's too late." she replied in a hurry. Draco's face expression lightened up a bit. "Well, then we don't have anything to worry about, have we?"  
  
Hermione looked doubtful. "I'm worried about what he is going to say about this." she looked at Draco. "It's one thing if I refuse him, but it's completely another thing if I fall in love with his worst enemy."  
  
Draco released Hermione's hands. "I don't give a shit about Potter." he said in a elegant manner. "I love you, but I don't want to have anything to do with him. You have to understand that."  
  
"Well, I don't!" Hermione answered and her eyes were shooting fire bolts by now. "What's wrong with you? Why do you hate him so damn much?"  
  
Draco looked away. Hermione's anger faded away a bit. "Draco." she said softly. "If you are jealous, you don't have to be. You are equal with him, the both of you..."  
  
Draco started to laugh.  
  
"You really think that's it?" he said ironically. "You really think that it's only about being jealous?"  
  
Hermione looked at him, being very confused.  
  
"Well, what is it about then?" she asked daringly. He stopped laughing. "If I told you, I would have to kill you." he said simply and before she could say anything more, he kissed her fiercely and wrapped his arms around her. "Don't." he whispered and kissed her again. "Don't spoil the moment. Leave it." he kissed her again and again, making her mouth open and answer his kiss. After several minutes of snogging minutes, he smiled. "Maybe you would want to return to the couch, Miss Granger?" she smiled back.  
  
"Even if that's a very pleasant thought, I'd have to pass." she answered and looked at her watch. "It's almost one o'clock am, Draco! We've been very lucky of not getting caught."  
  
Draco opened his arms. "What can I say? You are my lucky star."  
  
Hermione smiled and kissed him for the last time. "I have to go." she whispered gently. Draco grabbed her arm.  
  
"Wait. What's going to happen tomorrow?"  
  
Hermione's eyes sparkled. "You'll see." she said mysteriously and disappeared from the library, leaving Draco completely speechless. 


	2. The Flames

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 2  
  
~The Flames~  
  
Hermione walked into the Common Room, expecting it to be completely empty since it was past 1 am in the morning. But she was wrong. Someone was sitting near the fire, looking like a fire himself...  
  
"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed and blushed. He didn't answer. He didn't even look at her.  
  
"Ron..." Hermione whispered again. Then she looked at herself and realised what a mess she was looking like. Her robes were completely wrinkled and her hair was more bushy and untidy then ever. While she tried to fix those things, she tried to speak to him again. "Ron, what are you doing here, being so late up?"  
  
And finally he spoke.  
  
"I was waiting for you." he said coldly. Hermione blushed even more.  
  
"You waited for me?" she asked. "Why?"  
  
Ron looked at her in disbelief.  
  
"I believe you would've done the same thing if you've seen how Harry looked like when he came back to the common room."  
  
Hermione was silent.  
  
"He looked like a wreck." Ron continued in a painful voice. "He looked even worse than the time when Cedric Diggory died. Even more worse then the time he saw his parents in the Mirror of Erised." Ron looked at Hermione. "His heart was broken and that's thanks to you."  
  
After those words Hermione laughed ironically. "And my heart wasn't broken?" she asked coldly, but her eyes were full of fire. "My heart wasn't broken after those years of waiting, hoping that he would notice something, anything..." She stopped and her eyes became cold again. "That doesn't matter anymore." she said and started to walk towards the girls dormitory.  
  
"Wait." Ron exclaimed. Hermione turned around and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
Ron looked in her eyes, trying to find something which he obviously didn't.  
  
"What's happening to you, Herm?" he asked gently. "Wasn't Harry the one you loved, the one you wanted?"  
  
Hermione smiled slightly.  
  
"Yes, he was." she said dreamily. "Until he said that he loved me."  
  
Ron shook his head. "Now you've lost me."  
  
Hermione laughed. "When he confessed, I realised that it was too late. Those three small words made me come back to the real world, Ron. I know that Harry would lose his interest in me after a while, even if he doesn't know if himself. I know him so well, Ron, just as well as you do. And that's why you should know what's happening."  
  
Ron didn't seem to listen to what Hermione was saying; Instead, he was staring at her neck.  
  
"I know what's happening alright." he said ironically. "What's that?" he pointed at something red on her neck. Hermione's hand immediately touched the spot and she blushed. Ron's face expression changed immediately.  
  
"You... you liar." he said, furious. His face colour was turning from red into purple and his hair seemed to be on fire. "You didn't love him. You didn't even care about him. It was just an excuse, wasn't it?"  
  
Hermione shook her head.  
  
"Ron, you don't know what you are talking about."  
  
"Who is it? Is it Seamus?"  
  
Hermione's eyes became icy.  
  
"You are being ridiculous, Ron."  
  
"Dean?"  
  
Hermione crossed her arms.  
  
"Stop it. Now."  
  
"Neville?"  
  
After those last words, a red flash of light hit Ron and made him fall down to the floor. Hermione twirled her wand through her fingers.  
  
"It's Draco Malfoy." She said coldly, turned around and walked up the stairs to the girls dormitory.  
  
***  
  
Harry could feel the fresh and cold air... the wind running through his hair. He was flying. Together with his Firebolt, they had always made a great time. And nothing could stop them. Nothing could come between them. Nothing.  
  
After the conversation with Hermione, he returned to the common room. But he couldn't stand the thought of seeing her later, so he decided to take a walk. He remembered that she had his invisibility cloak, but he didn't dare to enter her room. The familiar smell would probably kill him.  
  
The walk turned into an hour of flying.  
  
Harry wasn't thinking. He tried not to think about anything at all.  
  
But he could still hear her voice in his head...  
  
"It's too late, Harry."  
  
***  
  
As she shut the door behind her, she took a deep breath. Why did she act like that? Did she had to use a spell on him? She had never done that before...  
  
"He was acting like a complete jerk." a voice in her head started to speak. "He deserved that."  
  
"Oh, did he?" A tiny irritating voice replied. "All he wanted to do was to protect his friend. There was nothing wrong with that. You would've done the same thing."  
  
Hermione shook her head.  
  
"Stop it."  
  
"It's true and you know it."  
  
"STOP IT!!" she screamed and she could hear that her voice was sounding weak and desperate.  
  
She could fell how the tears started to run down her cheeks again. What's happening? When she was with Draco, she was feeling good, she could almost see a light at the end of the tunnel... and now she was feeling so weak and fragile again.  
  
She sighed and took a look at her room. She had her own room since she was a prefect. It was so clean and neat that Hermione had a sudden urge of spilling something red and greasy on the white carpet.  
  
"I have to get out of here." she thought frantically. But before she stepped out of her room, she remembered something; Harry's invisibility cloak which was lying in her bag. It was lying there since their last nightly visit at Hagrid's.  
  
She thought for a moment and then decided to use it. He wouldn't know about it anyway and she would give it back to him the next morning.  
  
She ran quickly through her things, found the invisibility cloak and put it around her shoulders. She didn't know where she was going, but she had to get out of here now. She opened the door and ran down the stairs to the common room; Ron was still lying unconscious on the floor. She stood there and looked at him for a moment... then she vanished through the portrait hole.  
  
***  
  
The empty, dark corridors were scaring her, but she didn't dare to go back to the common room. The thought of finding Ron there, more furious then ever... that was too much for her.  
  
As she walked past the trophy room, she could hear Peeves' monotone bounces against the wall. She didn't meet anyone else on her way - everything was too silent.  
  
She had to hear someone's voice, she needed to talk to someone.  
  
Only one thought appeared in her mind - Draco.  
  
***  
  
Draco couldn't sleep either. He turned around in his bed for the tenth time. But he knew that he couldn't sleep. Millions of thoughts were running through his head and most of them contained Hermione.  
  
He couldn't believe it.  
  
Oh no, he could. He remembered her lips, her smell and her eyes. He remembered it all.  
  
He turned around for the eleventh time and laughed.  
  
"Thank God that I'm alone." he grinned. As he was a Prefect, he also had his own room, just like Hermione.  
  
"Well, then I'd better leave." A soft voice spoke from the darkness. Draco rushed up from the bed with his wand in his hand.  
  
"Show yourself now!!" he yelled, pointing at the darkness with his wand.  
  
A soft laughter came from the darkness and Hermione's face appeared. "It's me, Draco."  
  
Draco let his wand down, slowly, having the worst expression of disbelief on his face ever. Hermione giggled.  
  
"That's the first time I see you scared, Draco. Oh well, if you don't count that time Bartolomy Crouch turned you into a ferret. That's a memory for life, I can tell you." Draco started to laugh too.  
  
"Please don't make me remember. How did you get in here?" he wondered. Hermione smiled mysteriously.  
  
"Your password wasn't that hard to guess." she replied and then whispered...  
  
"Slytherin Pride."  
  
Draco still looked confused.  
  
"Not that I'm not happy to see you, but..." he raised an eyebrow. Hermione sighed. "I needed to talk to someone." she answered and took a seat at Draco's bed. "I had a fight with Ron and... Draco, I cursed him."  
  
Draco started to laugh.  
  
"You- What?! You cursed Weasley?"  
  
Hermione looked down.  
  
"It was just a locking spell." she whispered. "But still, it was the first time I've ever cursed him. I don't know why I did it. And I had to talk to someone."  
  
Draco hugged her.  
  
"Sure." he answered simply. What wouldn't he do to have just as simple problems as she did?  
  
Hermione sobbed.  
  
"Do you have a tissue or something?"  
  
Draco nodded and gave her a neat tissue with two golden letters on it - "DM."  
  
"Draco Malfoy." Hermione whispered. Draco nodded.  
  
"So, you wanted to talk?" he smiled slightly. "So, let's talk." he touched her face gently. "Although the thought of having you in my bedroom in the middle of the night, looking like that..."  
  
"Draco." Hermione smiled. Draco leaned over and kissed her gently. She answered the kiss and sighed happily.  
  
"This is so strange." she whispered. "Whenever you are around, I feel so good. It used to be just the other way."  
  
Draco smiled and kissed her again. "Things change, Herm. People change."  
  
"I know, you've proved that already." she grinned and returned his kiss. 


	3. The Letter

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 3  
  
~The Letter~  
  
After several hours of flying around Hogwarts area, which was probably completely forbidden, Harry settled down. The sky was becoming brighter and the stars started to fade. The wind was still blowing slightly, making the trees of the forbidden forest sway. Harry took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a minute.  
  
***  
  
She opened her eyes and yawned. Then she stretched herself lazily, like a cat and looked around. She didn't recognize the place - it was too dark to be her room... then where was she?  
  
Draco.  
  
She stood up immediately. A black blanket fell of her and she realized that she had been sleeping with her cloches on. And that meant that...  
  
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." Draco greeted her with a sly smile on his face. His blond hair was untidy and wheat. Obviously he had been taking a shower. He was wearing a black dressing gown and holding a cup of coffee in his hands.  
  
Hermione hid her face in her hands and sighed. "I can't believe this is happening. I spent the night with you?"  
  
Draco tried to hide his amusement and took a sip out of his cup. "Nothing happened, if that's what you mean." he said with a grin. "I thought you would understand that since you still had your clothes on."  
  
Hermione looked up, seeming a bit more cheerful. "Well, in that case... thank you for being there for me. I hope I wasn't a bother."  
  
Draco smiled. "No, you weren't a bother. Actually I'm more worried about Ron. I wonder how he's recovering."  
  
Hermione's eyes widened. "Oh my God! I forgot! Ron!" She jumped out of the bed, picking up the invisibility cloak which was lying neatly on the chair. "I must apologize to him as soon as possible." she mumbled and opened the door, just to be stopped by Draco's hand.  
  
"Wait. You can't just leave like that." he raised an eyebrow. Hermione looked at him with a bit annoyed look.  
  
"Draco, you can't expect me to walk into the great hall with you, the whole school will explode of all the gossip and-"  
  
"You forgot to kiss me goodbye." Draco interrupted her, obviously enjoying the sight of Hermione being confused. Now that's something you couldn't see every day.  
  
"Oh." she said and leaned slightly over to kiss him quickly on his lips and pull herself backwards. "Now, if there was nothing else..."  
  
She got interrupted once again, this time by Draco's lips on her own.  
  
"Now that is a real goodbye kiss." he whispered and opened his eyes. She smiled.  
  
"Yeah." was all she could say. "I'll meet you at... well, I'll meet you later, ok? Now I have a life to sort out."  
  
Draco nodded silently and closed the door behind her. Then he rested his head on the door and sighed.  
  
If only he had only those few problems she had.  
  
He stood up and walked nonchalantly towards his desk. He opened the third box and took a letter out of it. It was in créme colour and the colour of the ink was red. He opened it slowly and started to read the letter once again.  
  
"Draco, my son..." Draco shrugged at those first words just like he always did. Then he forced himself to continue to read the letter.  
  
"Draco, my son,  
  
We have been waiting for your sign, but we haven't received it. I hope you know what you are doing. You know that I expect great things of you. And so does He. We know what you are capable of and we count on you. We hope that you'll be done by the end of next month. The Dark Lord will surely promote you if you succeed. Remember that this is very important. You mustn't fail. And after all, you are my son. You wouldn't betray me, now wouldn't you? You should know the consequences. We are waiting.  
  
L. Malfoy."  
  
Draco closed his eyes and he knew that the image would show up.  
  
"Draco, what have you done?" A dangerous, sweet male voice asked. "You know that you can't betray me. You really thought that you would get away with this?"  
  
"Father, please. Don't. Please." A young boy's voice pleaded.  
  
There was a cold laugh. "Oh, Draco, Draco, Draco... You should've known me better than that. Crucio."  
  
Draco opened his eyes, still hearing the screams in his head.  
  
***  
  
She walked as quickly as possible through the hallways. Everything was still quiet, but she knew that in a few minutes the students would start to come down the stairs, making their way through the different passages and hallways to the great hall. Her hair was a mess and her clothes were looking terrible, but she was feeling happy. She almost felt guilty about how happy she was. For the first time in a long time the world was coming into focus. She didn't feel that empty black hole inside of her anymore. She had Draco.  
  
Who would've thought that this would happen? No one and especially not Hermione. But it was happening and Hermione realised that she didn't regret a thing.  
  
There were two problems left though. How could she convince her friends that she was feeling happy and that Draco didn't cast a spell over her?  
  
And then it's the eternal Gryffindor vs Slytherin problem. She felt so sick and tired of it. And she could feel that the fire was burning inside of her, the same fire and power she felt when she protested against the elven abuse.  
  
Thinking these thoughts she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.  
  
"Password?" The Fat Lady asked, being too tired to ask the girl where she was coming from at this time of the day.  
  
"Random Flavours." Hermione whispered quietly. The Portrait turned, revealing the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione crawled through it and stepped into the common room with a worried look on her face. Ron was not lying on the floor anymore. And that meant that someone had been using the counter spell on him. Who?  
  
"Hi." a tired voice disturbed her thread of thoughts. She turned around and faced him. He was looking extremely tired and had blue rings around his eyes. His black hair was untidy and he twirled his wand in his hands. For a minute she saw nothing else - just his sparkling green eyes. But for the first time in her life she couldn't read them. They were sealed and there was a wall between them.  
  
"Harry, I..." Hermione started and then stopped. There was nothing she could say.  
  
"I found him lying there." Harry waved carelessly with his wands towards the floor near the stairs that were leading to the Girls Dormitory. "He didn't fight anymore and he was trying to sleep. When I undid the spell, he could hardly move."  
  
Hermione looked away.  
  
Suddenly Harry stood up and pointed his wand at Hermione. She widened her eyes and looked at him in disbelief.  
  
"How would you like if I would use the spell on you, right here, right now and let you stay here for several hours? I had to levitate him to the Hospital Wing." He hissed and narrowed his eyes. Hermione was speechless. She hadn't seen him this angry in her entire life. She looked away.  
  
"Look at me." he took her by her chin and forced her to look at him. She returned his gaze and he saw the hatred and betrayal in her eyes.  
  
"That was all I needed to know." He whispered. For a moment she could see the hurt in his eyes, she could almost feel how his heart was bleeding... and then it was gone. He lowered his wand and walked out of the common room. 


	4. Emotions and Secrets

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 4  
  
~Emotions and secrets~  
  
Hermione looked after him for a while and was completely silent. Her heart was aching and she didn't know why. She didn't love him, right?  
  
She leaned her head towards the wall and sighed. What a liar she was. She even lied to herself. And that's low. That's really low.  
  
Of course she loved him. As a friend. And now she knew that she'd lost a friend forever. Silently, the tears ran down her cheeks and she didn't even seem to realize that. All she could see and feel was his eyes, his cold and heartless eyes watching her, seeing through her...  
  
He was lost. Forever.  
  
She slid down to the ground and cried. Cried like she never had cried before. Her heart was breaking and she cursed it. She cursed her heart for all the pain it was causing her and all her friends. Oh, she wished she could be heartless. That would be the only way she couldn't hurt anyone at all.  
  
She cried for two lost friends. For the pain. For this miserable life she had to go through. For her heart. For the sun and the moon. For Draco. And for herself. Because she knew that she was cursed. And she cursed everyone that came into her life. And she cursed herself.  
  
***  
  
Ron looked through the window in the Hospital Wing. His face was expressionless and that was how he felt right now. He didn't have any emotions at all.  
  
How could this happen? How could this go this far? It was impossible... and still, it had happened. She just... just... how could she? How could she betray them? And not with just anyone... with Draco Malfoy.  
  
He narrowed his eyes. She was lost forever.  
  
Somewhere inside his heart you could hear a door closing.  
  
And then there was a door opening. He looked up and met Harry's eyes.  
  
"Hey..." Harry knocked on the door and smiled a weak smile. "I thought that Madame Pomfrey told you to sleep."  
  
"I'm fine." Ron answered and grinned, but the grin wasn't his old grin. It was just a shadow. "Look, I can get up and walk right now..." He jumped out of the bed, but lost his balance almost immediately and he would've fallen down to the floor, if Harry hadn't cached him.  
  
"Apparently not." Harry said calmly and helped Ron back into the bed. "I imagine it was a pretty though night for you."  
  
Ron nodded weakly. "You shouldn't try to do this at home..."  
  
"What, are you kiddin'?" Harry smiled. "The Dursley's would love if I would put the body-bind spell on myself. They sure would have a good laugh watching me."  
  
Ron let out a small laugh. There was a moment of silence.  
  
"So." he said. "Have you been talking to her?"  
  
Harry nodded slowly. "Yes." That was all he said and from that Ron understood that Harry doesn't want to talk about it. But that didn't matter anymore. Not after...  
  
He still could see Harry's face when Ron told him about Hermione and Draco Malfoy. The special light Harry always had extinguished. Disappeared. He didn't swear, he didn't run around and scream or cast curses on the first person who walked into the common room. No. All he said was:  
  
"Oh." And from that moment forward he hadn't said a word about it.  
  
Ron swallowed. It was a bit scary. And he knew that he would never forgive Hermione for this. Never. Nothing could make up for that pain Harry's eyes revealed. Nothing.  
  
***  
  
His eyes didn't reveal anything anymore. The only thing that showed his true feelings were his hands. They were trembling.  
  
Draco laid the letter back into the desk and closed it carefully. With an elegant swing he put a ward around the desk so that nobody could get to it. Afterwards he changed into a pair of black pants, a black t-shirt and black combat boots. He didn't like to wear the Hogwarts Robes, but he wore them anyway. But that didn't stop him from looking gorgeous underneath them.  
  
He liked black. The colour was calm, deep and reminded him of his true nature. Because he was black. And he knew it. Nothing could change that.  
  
He looked at his mirror image and took a deep breath.  
  
"Don't let her get to you." he whispered and looked at himself. "She is too important. She is my only way."  
  
"The son of a Death-Eater knows what to do." The mirror image replied. Draco nodded.  
  
"The son of a Death-Eater knows what to do." Draco repeated. Then he walked out of his room picking up his black cloak on the way.  
  
As he walked out of his room and entered a long hallway with several doors on both sides, he walked to the exit without looking in another direction except forwards, ran down the stairs to the common room, just to bump into...  
  
"Blaise." he said with a sigh as he looked at the beautiful red-haired and green eyed girl who smiled at him with her mysterious smile.  
  
"Draco." she purred in content. "Why are you in such hurry? I was just about to go to you and say good morning..."  
  
Draco raised an eyebrow and hid the smile. "Err, that's very sweet of you, Blaise..." he said. "But I've got things to do. You know, a Prefect's schedule is completely filled, no time to have fun and relax..."  
  
"Don't lie to me, Draco." Blaise said with a smile and touched his cheek. "I know that you don't give a damn about this whole Prefect business. The only reason you wanted to be a Prefect was the price - your own room where you could do whatever you want..." she purred. "Speaking about the room, maybe we could return to it? I would love to see it... again."  
  
"Blaise..." Draco said calmly and looked at the girl. "It's over. It is over since two months ago. And honestly, I already regret what happened. Not that you didn't hold the measure..." he said and grinned, looking at her figure. "But... I just got tired of you." he said simply and tonelessly.  
  
"Oh." Blaise said, feeling completely speechless. That sun of a-  
  
Blaise's attitude changed completely.  
  
"Don't think for one minute that you had any affect on me, Malfoy." she snapped and gave him a cynic look. "Sorry to break it to you, honey, but I was just using you, just like any other idiot around here. You were nothing but a toy to me. A good toy indeed, who bought me gifts and stuff, but still just a toy." she finished and waited for Draco's reaction. It wasn't quite what she imagined.  
  
He started to laugh.  
  
"Ah, Blaise..." he smiled and wiped away a tear. "You are really just too much..." He continued to laugh as he walked out of the common room.  
  
Blaise watched him walk out of the Common Room with crossed arms.  
  
"You will pay for this, Draco." she said and narrowed her eyes.  
  
***  
  
Albus Dumbledore walked back and forth in his office with his hands crossed behind his back. His long beard was almost touching the floor and his eyes, which were partly hidden behind the spectacles, that had slipped onto his nose, expressed a great worry.  
  
Once again he walked towards his desk and looked into the Pensieve.  
  
The shadows in the Pensieve started to form and soon they revealed the face of Lucius Malfoy, full of hatred. This happened here, right in this office, three years ago. Harry Potter who defeated the Basilisk and the memory of Tom Riddle was standing right besides him. Dobby, the elf, was hiding behind his Master's robes.  
  
The scene was so clear. He could nearly touch the hatred Lucius Malfoy felt for Harry that day. And only Merlin knows how the hatred had been growing for these past three years.  
  
Something was happening... something he wasn't sure he could control.  
  
His thoughts were disturbed by a knock on the door.  
  
"Come in." he said and looked at the door. Madam Pomfrey entered the office with a troubled look on her face.  
  
"I came to you, just like you said I should do, Albus." she said and looked at the Headmaster.  
  
"Did it happen, Poppy?" he asked the Hospital Wing Mistress.  
  
"Yes, Albus." she nodded. "Someone performed the full body-bind spell on Ron Weasley in the Gryffindor Common Room. He is in the Hospital Wing now and he is feeling quite well, even if he is not in perfect health. It was a perfect body-bind spell, very powerful one to." she said and watched Albus Dumbledore carefully, who seemed to disappear in thoughts of his own and who mumbled something like "I knew it".  
  
"Albus?"  
  
With a bit distracted look, he looked up. "Yes, Poppy?"  
  
"How could you know that a friend of Harry Potter would be attacked?"  
  
He turned away and looked out through the window. The sun was high up now and was shining clearly over the sky.  
  
"Call it a hunch, Poppy." he said. "Call it a hunch." 


	5. A New Day

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 5  
  
~A new day~  
  
Hermione looked up. The sun had risen and it was shining into the dark Common Room.  
  
It was a new day.  
  
Her tears dried. She wiped them away and blinked with her eyes several times. She took a deep breath.  
  
It was a new day. Even if she wanted to forget everything, she couldn't. The wall was there and she couldn't break it.  
  
But she wouldn't give up and spend the rest of her life regretting something she didn't really regret. No.  
  
She stood up and ran upstairs to her room. After several minutes she came back and without giving the Common Room another sight, she crawled through the Portrait Hole.  
  
With a determinate walk she walked down the hallway. The rumour was obviously spreading faster than the fire. She could see how they were looking at her. The girls with a cynical grin, probably thinking what a fool she was, ditching Harry Potter. The boys with. admiration? Hermione glanced at a Ravenclaw fifth year boy who smiled at her as she walked by.  
  
Why.?  
  
Oh.They didn't know.  
  
They didn't know about her and Draco.  
  
Hermione ran down the last stairs that separated her from the Great Hall. It was breakfast time.  
  
***  
  
The entrance closed behind him. Still with a smile on his lips, he continued to walk. Blaise really did put up a spectacle. And he knew that she wouldn't give up that easily. But he didn't mind to watch her pitiful efforts.  
  
With an expressionless face he passed by several first year girls who giggled as he walked by. He didn't even notice them. He was used to that kind of attention and frankly he didn't give a damn about them.  
  
What bothered him was Hermione.  
  
For a moment there, back at the library, and in his prefect room he started to doubt on himself. He wasn't sure if he could do this.  
  
He could still see her face, the beautiful and peaceful way she slept. She looked like an angel. An innocent and kind angel. He didn't sleep a wink that night; he just watched and explored her face. Now he knew every line, mark and spot in her face. He studied her breath and her smell. He felt that he was charmed by her simple and interesting nature. She captured him like a fly.  
  
Once, in the middle of the night, she opened her eyes and looked at him.  
  
"Draco." she whispered and closed and opened her eyes several times. And then she smiled. The most beautiful smile.  
  
He watched her and didn't reply. He felt relieved and extremely happy because she said his name. Not Harry's or someone else's. His name.  
  
"Sleep my beauty." he finally said. "My light in the dark." But she didn't hear him. She had already fallen asleep.  
  
***  
  
Ron looked at Harry, who looked out through the window.  
  
"You look like hell." he said. Harry didn't seem to hear him.  
  
"Harry." No response.  
  
"Snape just announced that he is going to give us Potions off and a box of Chocolate Frogs for me to celebrate my recovery." No response.  
  
"HARRY!!!" Finally, he looked up.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Harry, you were million miles away. Where were you?" Ron asked him. Harry sighed.  
  
"Nowhere." he replied.  
  
Ron gave him a worried look.  
  
"Look, Harry, I can see that she's still troubling you. Er, maybe I got her wrong and she didn't say that she's together with Malfoy, maybe she meant Gregory Milroy, that Ravenclaw boy instead."  
  
"Ron." Harry interrupted him. "Stop it."  
  
There was a moment of silence in the Hospital Wing.  
  
"I just can't believe it." Ron said again. "I mean, that's one thing that she said that she didn't love you - sorry, Harry - but saying that she's going out with Malfoy. I bet he has cursed her. His father is a Death-Eater for God's sake; it could've been the Imperius curse or something."  
  
Harry shook his head. "No. She wasn't under a curse. She was herself, I know that." He turned around and faced the Hospital Wing wall. "And she didn't lie. She said the truth. You know that." He closed his eyes, rewinding to the part when her eyes lit up with hatred. Hatred directed towards him. "I don't know what to think." He sighed and lowered his head. "But maybe people change." he whispered.  
  
"No one can change that much over a night." Ron shook his head.  
  
"I did." Harry replied simply. "I didn't notice her feelings for over two years and when you told me, it was like a lightning in the broad daylight. And when she talked to me. It was a wake-up call for me. I respect that she didn't trust me anymore and didn't love me. And I can imagine how fragile she was after that and maybe she just used Draco as a shield to hide herself from the world for a while. But when I found you, lying in the Common Room. That wasn't something Hermione would do if she would feel desperate. When Hermione is desperate, she buries herself in a pile of books. But when she acts this way. I don't know what to think. I haven't seen this side of Hermione before. When she walked into the Common Room, I could feel the change in her. She was like a completely different person. She was content. And prepared.  
  
Ready.  
  
Only once I thought I saw the old Hermione in her eyes. But that glimpse disappeared immediately.  
  
She wasn't cold or cruel. she was just so. calm.  
  
And we didn't have anything to say to each other. It was almost scary to feel the wall between us. But I couldn't deny the fact that it was there." he finished. Ron watched him with his eyes wide open.  
  
"So, you mean." he said slowly. "That she just simply chose Malfoy instead of you because she wanted to change?"  
  
Harry nodded. "Something like that. Well, I'm not sure, but that's a possibility. I mean, what other reason could there be?"  
  
Ron shook his head. "I don't know. I'm not going to stand in her way is she is going to leave us, even if she is going to leave us for. Malfoy." he swallowed. "But if he just. touches a hair on her head, I'll twist and turn. pain. Lots of pain."  
  
Harry raised an eyebrow.  
  
"What?" Ron asked him with a serious look on his face. "I may've had a few fights with Herm, but she is still my friend. And I can't change her or her actions, but I can take care of her, even she wants that or if she doesn't. And you know damn well that I don't trust that bastard Malfoy. He hates Hermione. He called her mudblood! I'm sure he has something up his sleeve. playing with her heart and feelings, manipulating her mind."  
  
Harry turned away.  
  
"People can change." he repeated. "Although no one can change a son of a Death-Eater."  
  
***  
  
As Hermione walked into the Great Hall, she stopped for a minute. As she looked at the Gryffindor Table, she saw how everyone were looking at her. Parvati Patil was forgetting about her meal, just to have the opportunity to gossip with her friends about the newest news; Hermione Granger dumped Harry Potter. Everyone knew of course, that something had been going on between them for a long time and Hermione seemed to have got tired of the relationship and broken up with Harry in the middle of a hallway. Almost everyone thought that that kind of action was extremely heartless.  
  
"I knew that she was a bitch." a girl said at the Gryffindor Table, talking loudly so that everyone could hear her, including Hermione. "I just think that she didn't dare to come out with it."  
  
Hermione couldn't listen a second longer to that crap. Desperately she looked around the Great Hall to see a familiar and kind face. and then she saw him.  
  
Dressed in black, as always, Draco was sitting at the Slytherin Table with his legs stretched out in an elegant manner. Lazily, with one hand, he reached out for a grape. In the middle of his action, he looked up from the Table and noticed Hermione. He froze for a moment. Then he picked the grape and turned away.  
  
Hermione continued to look at him and suddenly she decided to do something she would never have thought that she would have to do.  
  
With determinate footsteps she started to walk in the direction of the Slytherin Table. Draco looked up and couldn't believe his eyes when Hermione was standing right besides him. Everyone in the whole Great Hall started to buzz like a bunch of bees. Parvati Patil looked like if she'd just have a stroke attack and looked as if she couldn't breathe. Hermione, however, didn't seem to notice that. Or maybe she just didn't care.  
  
"Hi." she said and smiled gently. "We agreed we would meet in the Great Hall, right?"  
  
Draco looked a bit confused. "Err, right. Right." That was all he could say. "But I didn't think that you would." He was interrupted by Hermione, who pulled up a seat besides him and started to fill her plate with food.  
  
"I'm starving." she said as she took several pieces of toast, some bacon and eggs from the table. "Well, continue." she looked at him with a grin. Draco looked at her like if he had never seen her before. Suddenly he forgot the letter and all the promises.  
  
"Never mind." he said and offered her a cup of chocolate.  
  
On the other side of the Great Hall, the Weasley twins looked at Draco and Hermione with their eyes wide open.  
  
"I can't believe this." Fred said and shook his head. George nodded.  
  
"Whatever Harry did to her, it really must've hurt. Hermione hates Malfoy more than we hate Filch."  
  
"Yeah. I wonder what this whole fuzz is about." Fred said slowly, having a thoughtful expression on his face, looking at Hermione who just started to laugh about something Draco had whispered to her.  
  
A pair of green eyes watched Draco and Hermione, not that far from them. Blaise was forgetting all about her meal, watching the two of them with narrowed eyes.  
  
"What are you up to, Draco Thomas Malfoy?" She thought, watching the blond boy with a mysterious gaze.  
  
She left the table very early and stormed out of the Great Hall, bumping into two boys. One of them almost lost his balance and would've fallen if the other boy wouldn't have catched him in the last minute. The boy looked extremely week and pale, even more because of his red hair.  
  
"Really?" Hermione laughed and her eyes sparkled. Draco watched her every movement.  
  
"Yes." Draco smiled. "You have no idea how many times I had to pretend because of my reputation. I don't know where all those rumours came from."  
  
"How about that one about you casting a spell on a first year so that she would do all your homework? Something like the Imperius Curse, but not that dangerous? Still, its illegal."  
  
Draco shook his head. "Hearsay. Nothing else. Actually, she offered herself to do my homework because she wanted to be popular and wanted me to help her with becoming it."  
  
"No." Hermione said in disbelief. "Really? Oh, c'mon, that's pathetic."  
  
Draco shrugged. "Some people would do anything to get what they want. Whatever it may cost."  
  
"And you?" Hermione asked him suddenly. "Would you do anything to get what you want? Whatever it may cost?"  
  
Draco looked up and their gazes locked.  
  
Harry and Ron entered the Great Hall, Harry trying to convince Ron to go back to the Hospital Wing.  
  
"You are not strong enough." Harry said with a certainty. "You have to rest- "  
  
"Harry, don't sound like Madame Pomfrey. Or worse, my mom." Ron replied angrily. Harry didn't reply. Instead, he looked at the Slytherin Table. Hermione and Draco were looking at each other like if they were in love, not letting their eyes of each other. Suddenly Hermione turned around in his direction, as if she could feel that he was looking at her. He searched for something, anything, in her eyes, an answer, a question...  
  
He didn't find it.  
  
He looked away and with slow steps he and Ron reached the Gryffindor Table, where everyone greeted them and gathered around them, shooting angry looks towards Hermione.  
  
Hermione looked away and looked at Draco instead. He gave her a questioning look. "No." she replied to a question he didn't ask. "I don't miss him. Really."  
  
Draco shrugged slightly and took another piece of toast. "Whatever you say." He whispered and suddenly felt that it was hard to breathe.  
  
"This is going to take a looong time." He thought for himself and sighed. 


	6. Even Heaven Has Its Problems

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 6  
  
~Even heaven has its problems~  
  
"I can ignore him." Hermione said to Draco and raised her eyebrows. "I don't want to have anything to do with him, remember? And I love you. You." She smiled when she saw how those words surprised Draco. "Now when I think about it, I realize that I wasted two full years on that guy." She nodded towards Harry. "Even if he would love me, he would take me for granted. He has been taking me for granted for four years. And I doubt he would change now."  
  
"But you miss him as your friend." Draco drawled and looked at Hermione with a convincing look on his face. "You miss your friends."  
  
Hermione hesitated for a moment and sighed.  
  
"First, I thought I missed them." she answered. "But now I know that I don't. What kind of friends are they if they can't accept the fact that I love you?"  
  
"Herm, they hate me. You hated me. That's not the news of the century." Draco replied and took another piece of toast.  
  
"But I don't hate you anymore." Hermione said in a stubborn voice. "When I met you in the library. Draco, you saved me." she whispered. "You saved me from the despair and the loneliness I was feeling. It was hurting and aching inside my head and my heart and for the first time in my life I wanted to run away." she said and looked at him. "I wanted to leave Hogwarts. And if it hadn't been for you, I would've done it."  
  
"You?" He raised an eyebrow. "Would have left Hogwarts?"  
  
She nodded slowly. "Yes, me. So, you see, actually you saved me. In an unexplainable sort of way you were there when I needed someone and you didn't try to hurt me. You didn't even try to say anything. You were there." she said in a convincing voice. "And for that I say thanks to you."  
  
There was a moment of silence.  
  
"Wow." Draco finally broke it and sighed. "That was one hell of a speech, Granger." he grinned. "You should get an award for that one. No, jokes aside, I believe you." he smiled. "I truly believe you. And now, if you are finished, I'd like to get the hell out of here." he grinned as he glanced at the rest of the Table and the students who were sitting around it. "I believe that our relationship is becoming the biggest scandal Hogwarts has ever seen."  
  
Hermione smiled and dropped her napkin on the table. "I'm done, Draco Malfoy." she said softly. "And I believe that our first lesson is Potions, so we've got to hurry." The both of them walked out of the Great Hall, making everyone's heads turn around. What a couple did they make - the tall, blond and mysterious Draco Malfoy and the beautiful, yet simple Hermione Granger who was always carrying her books around as if those were some sort of treasure. Only two people didn't look at them as they walked out of the Great Hall - Harry and Ron tried to ignore them as much as possible, wolfing their eggs and bacon.  
  
  
  
***  
  
As Draco and Hermione entered the Potions class together, Professor Severus Snape was already standing in his cathedral, looking down on the students as if he was some sort of God.  
  
"Mister Malfoy." he smiled at Draco. "And Granger." he snapped. "Trying to butter up one of the Slytherin students so that you and your pitiful little friends could play a prank on him, huh? 20 points of Gryffindor!"  
  
Hermione, who ignored him completely sat besides Draco and started to take out her potion ingredients.  
  
"Are you feeling well, Granger?" Professor Snape approached her, crossing his arms behind his back. "Maybe you are feeling a bit dizzy or fuzzy? You seem to have some problems finding your place in this classroom. Are you aware that you are sitting next to Mister Malfoy?"  
  
"Yes, Professor Snape, I'm feeling well, and yes, Professor Snape, I'm aware that I'm sitting next to Mister Malfoy, thank you for your concern." Hermione said cheerily. "I'm feeling great. And you?"  
  
Snape looked at her as if she was an alien. A very, very dangerous alien.  
  
"Another 20 points of Gryffindor!" he exclaimed sweetly. "A student is not allowed to attend to classes if she or he is not feeling well. And you are obviously delusional, Granger. Next time you'll lie to me, it'll be 50 points of Gryffindor."  
  
"She's fine, Professor Snape." Draco jumped suddenly in and looked at the teacher. Snape looked back at him and his face was completely blank.  
  
"Very well, Mister Malfoy." Snape nodded. "I'll let you get back to your work."  
  
"Thank you, Professor Snape." Draco answered and watched how the teacher walked away. Then he looked at Hermione. "Now he probably thinks that I'm nuts or something." He grinned.  
  
"No." Hermione shook her head. "But he does think that I'm nuts and that you are making some sort of a cunning plan to use the fact that I'm delusional." She laughed.  
  
Draco smiled weakly. However, he didn't laugh.  
  
The letter...  
  
Just as she finished her sentence, Harry and Ron entered the room and walked over to their usual spot in the end of the room. They didn't even seem to notice Hermione who was sitting together with Draco. She turned around quickly and started to work on her potion.  
  
***  
  
Lucius Malfoy sat in his working room and looked deep into the fire that was burning in the fireplace. After several minutes of thinking, he took a piece of parchment and a quill and started to write:  
  
"My son,  
  
A week has gone by and I haven't heard from you. The Dark Lord is getting very impatient and you know how angry he can get. His plan is ready and the only thing that stops from fulfilling it is your lack of courage and brains."  
  
Suddenly there was a boom and a head popped out of the flames.  
  
"Hello, Lucius." the man exclaimed and looked at him. Lucius dropped the quill, leaving several ugly spots of ink on the parchment and stood up.  
  
"Peter." He managed to perform a tiny smile. "How nice of you to drop in."  
  
"This is not a usual visit, Malfoy." Peter said coldly. "The Dark Lord is getting impatient. He is almost ready to contact another student at Hogwarts who might be able to perform her part of the deal."  
  
"Now, wait a minute, Peter." Lucius started, but then he stopped. "You said 'her'? She? A girl? The Dark Lord is going to ask for help from a girl? He certainly doesn't mean it."  
  
"Oh, he means it." Peter nodded and looked at Lucius with a touch of hatred in his eyes. "And he is very serious. If your son doesn't start to act soon, The Dark Lord will punish him for his disobedience and he will punish you for neglecting his time with your stupid promises.  
  
"I-I c-can inform you t-that m-my sources have t-told me t-that he has already made friends with t-that Granger girl. He will be done any day now." Lucius answered with several difficulties. Peter sneered.  
  
"One week, Malfoy. One week." With those words Peter's head disappeared from the fireplace with a little poof.  
  
Lucius Malfoy stood still for a moment. Then he returned to his desk and re- wrote and finished the letter, addressing it to "Draco Thomas Malfoy, Slytherin, Hogwarts". Then he lashed the letter to his owl's foot and opened the window. The owl took off and Lucius Malfoy watched how the owl made her way out of the Malfoy Mansion, flying over the high trees that were surrounding it.  
  
"You better hurry, son." He grit his teeth and closed the window.  
  
***  
  
The next Gryffindor team practice didn't go very well.  
  
"Harry, what's wrong with you?" Oliver exclaimed and shook his head. "You haven't caught the Snitch during the whole practice. Usually you catch it every time. You are not concentrating."  
  
Harry dropped his broom and it fell down to the ground. "I know." he sighed. "I think I'm feeling a little bit ill."  
  
"Well, if that's the case, you should visit Madam Pomfrey right away." Oliver beamed. "We wouldn't want to loose our best seeker through the times, now do we?"  
  
Harry smiled weakly. "Thank you, Oliver." he said and walked back to the castle.  
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, Draco and Hermione were studying together in the library. No, if I may correct, Hermione was studying and Draco was slowly falling a sleep.  
  
"Draco!" Hermione gave him an annoyed look as he started to snore. "Can't you just concentrate for one minute? This is the most important thing with this spell, if you can't pronounce it correctly, then the spell might not work, or even worse - backfire!"  
  
Draco slowly opened his eyes and looked at Hermione. "I really don't understand how you can do this."  
  
"What?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Work!" He pointed at the pile of books that were lying on the table. "Study! Don't you ever get tired of sitting in this library?"  
  
Hermione shook her head. "Not when my future depends on it." she replied seriously and looked back into her notes. Suddenly Draco closed her book.  
  
"Haven't you been thinking about living your life sometimes?" he asked her. Hermione sighed and opened her book again.  
  
"I don't know what you are talking about." she said with a cold undertone in her voice. "I am living my life and I'm doing it perfectly fine."  
  
"No." Draco closed her book again. "You are existing. Not living." He watched her.  
  
"Come on." he said suddenly and stood up. "I'm going to take you to some place."  
  
"Where to?" Hermione looked up.  
  
"That's a surprise." He grinned. "Now get up and leave that dreadful pile of books behind you. I just need to look at them and they make me noxious."  
  
"Draco, this is important stuff, I can't just leave this behind-"  
  
"Come with me. Now." he said and lift her out of her chair and carried her out of the library.  
  
"What are you doing?" she laughed as the librarian's, Madame Pince's, eyes widened in shock.  
  
"I'm trying to show you the world you are living in." he grinned as he looked at her. When they got on the other side of the library, he settled her carefully down to the ground. "Follow me." He took her by her hand and started to drag her along. Without knowing whether to laugh or cry, Hermione followed him, feeling completely astonished.  
  
He took two steps at the time as they started to climb up the stairs that were leading to the Astronomy Tower. As they reached the entrance of the Tower, Hermione tapped on his shoulder.  
  
"Draco." she said, trying to catch her breath. "The Tower is a forbidden area for the students."  
  
"I know." he replied and opened the door, walking through it.  
  
"Draco!" she hissed and looked around if anyone would notice them. "Come back!"  
  
He ignored her calls and continued to walk. With a sigh and a worried glance Hermione followed him.  
  
"Now, what was so special about this place which we had to break the school rules for?" she asked angrily as she finally climbed up the top of the Tower. Draco was standing near the edge, looking uncertainly at the view.  
  
"Look at this." he said and pointed. Hermione had this view for the first time and she thought that her heart would stop.  
  
It was beautiful. Everything was beautiful.  
  
The sun was shining up the clear and blue sky, the dark forest and the blue waters of the lake. Everything had some sort of shimmer around it, making the place look magical. She could see everything. She could see the mountains; she could see the fields and the railway of the Hogwarts Express. She could see how the earth was meeting the sky in the horizon and how the birds were flying around the castle, letting them hear their songs. She could feel the wind blowing and how it was cooling down her warm skin. She could feel, hear and see everything.  
  
She lived.  
  
Finally, she took her eyes of the view and looked at Draco.  
  
"Draco, this is beautiful." She smiled. Then she noticed that he was watching her with a strange look on his face. "What?"  
  
Slowly, a smile appeared on his face. "I looked at you. And for the first time I saw you being happy. You lived. And." A mysterious smile appeared on his face. "There's another thing I would like to show to you."  
  
"More surprises?" Hermione smiled. "Draco Malfoy, you are full of them."  
  
"I sure am." He grinned. Suddenly he leaned forwards, touched her face with his hands and kissed her softly on her lips. She felt how she was melting the kiss and she wrapped her arms around him and answered his kiss just as passionately as he did.  
  
She lived. 


	7. To Forgive And Forget

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 7  
  
~To Forgive And Forget~  
  
The rain fell down the castle and everyone fell in a sleepless dream. The sound of the rain increased as it hit the roofs, echoing. The weather got worse for every day and soon almost everyone started to forget how the sun was looking like.  
  
Draco sat in his room with a letter in his hands. He lowered his head and the letter fell down to the floor. He closed her eyes and breathed steadily. He could hear his father's voice in his head.  
  
"You'd better hurry, son..." His father looked at him with a worried expression. He knew his father wasn't bad. He was just weak.Too weak to refuse. Too weak to struggle against the Dark Lord. And too damn weak to take care of his son.  
  
But it wasn't fair! Draco slammed his fist in the desk and gritted his teeth. Why would he try to take care of his father's mistakes? He had his own life to live, his own fight to battle.  
  
And still, he knew he had no choice.  
  
The Dark Lord didn't show any mercy towards the weak and the faithless. If he wouldn't do this, his father would get killed or worse and Draco knew that.  
  
Did he have a choice? Did anyone really have a choice?  
  
He rose his head and looked through the window. A bolt of pure lightning shot through the sky.  
  
***  
  
It was Transfiguration and Professor Minerva McGonagall was explaining the meaning of being an Animangus to the class. They had been practising this for two years now and Hermione knew that at the end of the year they were supposed to be able to transform themselves into an animal. She also knew that it was very important and that it would probably be a part of the Final Exams. But for the first time in her life, Hermione didn't bother to take notes.  
  
Her tread of thoughts were circling around Draco. For the last few days Draco had been acting really strange. More and more he had been asking questions about Harry, even though a month ago he asked her to forget about him. Yesterday they had their first real fight, since 'the old days' when Draco insisted that Hermione should go and talk to Harry and try to sort their problems out. She disagreed and reminded him that she wanted to forget all about Harry and move on with her life. Together with Draco. She could still see his face when she told him that. Every time she closed her eyes she saw his expressionless face. Then he shrugged and stuffed his fists into his pockets.  
  
"What makes you think that I want that?" he raised an eyebrow and looked at her.  
  
And then he walked away.  
  
"Miss Granger."  
  
She opened her eyes and her gaze locked with McGonagall's.  
  
"Care to explain us about the difficulties that involve the transformation into an Animagus?"  
  
Hermione lowered her head. It wasn't very often she found herself speechless. And that was exactly how she felt right now.  
  
"Sleeping during a class, are you?" the cold British voice asked her. "That's 10 points of Gryffindor, Miss Granger. Maybe you should concentrate harder; otherwise you'll fail the Final Exams." Minerva turned around and faced the rest of the class. "Now, when you start to decide which animal you would change into, you must consider the consequences, the good and the bad things with the exact animal. You wouldn't want to turn into a bear, now would you...?" Hermione stopped to listen and leaned her head against the desk.  
  
When the lesson was over, the students ran out of the room faster than lightning. Hermione was one of the last students who left the classroom. She could hear how everyone whispered behind her back, but by now she was used to the gossip and didn't care about it anymore. Carrying her books, she headed towards the Common Room to drop them of, when she head a familiar voice behind her.  
  
"Maybe you should try and get some more sleep."  
  
Hermione's heart started to pound in a fast rhythm. As she turned around, her brown eyes met a pair of forest green.  
  
"Harry." she whispered and turned around. The last named smiled weakly. He stood there and smiled at her, as if nothing had happened. As if this last month was erased from his memory.  
  
"Yes, it's me." he said. Hermione looked down.  
  
"I thought you wouldn't talk to me." she whispered. Harry flinched.  
  
"Well, then I'm obviously breaking my promise right now, aren't I?" He raised an eyebrow. "Look, Herm..."  
  
Now it was Hermione's time to flinch. She couldn't even remember the last time he called her by her short name. In fact, he couldn't even remember when she talked to him for the last time.  
  
"Hermione." Harry corrected himself. "Even though I'm not approving your behaviour, in fact, I'm pretty sure you are making a mistake... I still can't be pissed of forever and you know that."  
  
Hermione kept quiet, not really knowing what to say and how to respond to this sincerity that was coming from him.  
  
"What you did to Ron, was..." he trailed of. "I could never imagine you could do something like that. And running of with Malfoy, of all people, sitting with him during the classes, while the whole school is buzzing about you two being together..." He shrugged. "Oliver is starting to get worried about me because I can't concentrate on the practices anymore. I always have you somewhere in the back of my mind." He looked at her. "And I can't go on living like this anymore; ignoring you as if you were a complete stranger... Although you must understand that it's quite a lot I have to swallow here. You can't expect me to get along with this so easily."  
  
"I'm not expecting you to get along with this." Hermione finally spoke and looked at him. "And I'm not looking for your approval. All I want from you is some understanding." she whispered.  
  
Harry looked at her, as if trying to look into the deepest secrets of heart and wanting to figure out what's going on in her mind.  
  
"Is this what you really want? Be together with Draco Malfoy?" he asked her, lowering his voice. She nodded.  
  
"Yes." she said with a determination. "He's not as bad as you-we-thought he was, actually. He's just hiding."  
  
"Hiding from what?" Harry raised his brows.  
  
"I don't know." Hermione sighed and looked down again. "That's what I'm trying to find out."  
  
"Then you have my approval." Harry said. Hermione looked up and couldn't believe what she was hearing.  
  
"You what?!" Her eyes widened. A slight smile appeared on Harry's lips.  
  
"Herm, you are my friend and the smartest witch in this whole damn school." he said. "And whatever you are planning, I'm sure it's good. I trust you."  
  
Hermione looked at him in disbelief. She searched for something in his eyes and she saw it there. He really trusted her.  
  
"You really trust me." she whispered. Harry smiled.  
  
"Yeah." He grinned. "It took me a whole month to say that." He saw the joy in her eyes and he knew that he could never spoil it. He knew that he could never say that he was still in love with her, no matter what. As he looked at her and saw that smile on his face, he realized how much he had missed her. He knew that it was his fault. He was the fool who didn't notice her love for him for two years. And now his chance was gone. And he also knew that Draco was the one to see how that smile lit up on her face every day. He was the one who could watch her, kiss her and take care of her. Love her. And she loved him. Harry knew that. And as much as he loved her, he didn't have the heart to destroy that happiness, those smiles on her face. She would never know.  
  
Never.  
  
"Better late than never." she smiled. "I really appreciate your support, you know. You can't imagine how hard it has been for me to ignore you."  
  
"I know what you mean." Harry nodded.  
  
There was a moment of silence. Suddenly he reached out his hand. "Friends?" he asked her with a careful tone in his voice. Hermione hesitated for a second and then took his hand.  
  
"Friends." She nodded and smiled.  
  
As Harry could feel her graceful and fragile hand in his, he shivered. The memories swayed over him like the waters of the see over a rock. He looked down, because he wasn't sure whether he could look into her eyes and hide all those feelings that were inside of him.  
  
"So, where's Ron?" Hermione broke the silence. "I haven't seen him for a while now."  
  
"He's in the Hospital Wing." Harry answered. Hermione moaned.  
  
"Oh, please don't say that he still has some injuries from the spell I performed on him..." She looked at him so pleadingly, he started to laugh.  
  
"No, Herm." He grinned. "A bludger hit him when he was watching me practice. The twins were not careful and their little brother had to pay."  
  
"Oh, no!" Hermione shot him a worried glance. "Is he OK?"  
  
"A few broken ribs." Harry answered. "But he's OK now; Madam Pomfrey fixed him almost right away." He added hastily as he saw Hermione's face expression. He couldn't help but smile a bit. It was a while ago he saw her like this. Hermione, just as she was before everything happened. Those days seemed to be so long ago... "You can visit him, if you want." He said. Hermione gave him a doubtful look.  
  
"Isn't he mad at me?" she asked him, holding her books in a tight grip. Harry gave her a surprised look. She understood that the possibility hadn't really occurred to him. "It's okay." She said before he could say anything. "I-I really have to go and see Draco anyway. I really appreciate your support, Harry. And I'm glad we're friends again."  
  
She smiled weakly. "Tell Ron... tell him..." She trailed of. "Just tell him."  
  
Harry nodded slowly. "I will." he whispered and watched her walk away.  
  
Of course. Things could never be the same again. What was he thinking?  
  
***  
  
"Mister Malfoy, I'm not sure whether I can allow you to..." Severus Snape looked at one of his favourite students and for the first time, he wanted to deny something to a Slytherin.  
  
"I need it for a project that's about dangerous potions, Professor Snape." Draco said. "Please." He said, with some difficulties. "You'll have it back as soon as possible." Snape looked at him for several minutes, which seemed like an eternity for Draco. The teacher seemed to be able to access all his deepest and most secret thoughts and that was a feeling Draco didn't like.  
  
Without saying another word, Severus approached his desk and took out a key. Then he walked out of the room and returned after a while with a tiny bottle in his hands. "Take good care of it and don't use too much or the object might get side- effects." Severus hissed and gave it to Draco almost unwillingly. "And I expect it to have it back in my office in exactly two days."  
  
A winning smile appeared on Draco's lips. "Will do, Sir." he answered and took the bottle out of the teacher's hands and took a firm grip around it as if it was an irreplaceable treasure. With a final nod, he walked out of Professor Snape's personal room.  
  
The teacher stood there for several seconds. And then he started to move to. He walked out of his office and warded to door as always, so that no students could get in. And then he swept down the hallways like a dark cloud, running up for the stairs, going to his right, left, right again and then straight ahead. Any students that were in his way, stepped aside and didn't dare to look into his eyes. Professor Snape was associated with the purest nightmare himself.  
  
Finally he reached his destination, a very ugly looking goblin.  
  
"Russian raisins." He said to the statue. Suddenly, the goblin jumped aside and revealed an entrance. Without looking anywhere but straight ahead, Snape opened the door and walked up the stairs to the office of the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. He knocked on the door.  
  
"Come in." A voice greeted the teacher and he opened the door. He found the Headmaster standing besides the cage where his Phoenix Fawkes was located. He was feeding the bird and talking to him at the same time. The bird rubbed his head against Albus's hand and bit him softly into his finger. Dumbledore smiled and turned around to face Severus. "I guess you have news for me, Severus?"  
  
"Yes." The teacher nodded eagerly. "Everything happened just as you predicted. He asked me for the Veritaserum, just as you thought he would, and I gave it to him. He promised to have it back in two days." He shot the Headmaster a curious look. "Albus, how did you know he was going to ask me about it?"  
  
The Headmaster fed the last of the seeds to the bird. "You must keep an eye on Mister Malfoy." he said and looked at Snape. "If I'm right, then he is going to do some pretty interesting and strange things these next days. I want you to watch him very carefully."  
  
Snape nodded. "I will, Albus." he answered. "But what is going to happen?"  
  
"I prefer not to tell anything yet." Albus answered. "Not until the next move is made." His eyes got a glassy and far-away look. Then he seemed to return to the reality. "And I will need your help in some other ways to, Severus..." He lowered his voice and looked at Snape. Severus face expression changed immediately and he automatically touched his left arm.  
  
"Is it that serious?" he asked strictly. The Headmaster nodded.  
  
"I'm afraid it is, Severus." he replied. "I'm afraid it is. Unfortunately, we can't act in the best possible way, because I'm sure they are expecting us to do that exact thing. We can't make any short-cuts here, Severus. There's too much at stake here."  
  
"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, Albus." Severus watched him carefully. Albus returned his look and a shadow shot across his face.  
  
"The Boy Who Lived is at stake here." he answered. "The life of Harry Potter." 


	8. Serpent Secrets

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 8  
  
~Serpent Secrets~  
  
Hermione hurried down the stairs into the dungeons. Several thoughts were running through her head and she couldn't take a grip over them all.  
  
Harry forgave her. He trusted her.  
  
A quick shadow passed over her face.  
  
But did she trust him?  
  
She ran down the stairs, passing several students who stared at her. But she didn't notice them.  
  
She had to find him and talk to him. Talk to Draco. She had to know whether he was upset...  
  
What did she do wrong?  
  
The answer was simple. Nothing.  
  
Then why was he acting so weird?  
  
Without even looking up, she made her way through the dungeons. She knew the way far too well.  
  
Just then, as she made a turn around the corner, she bumped into someone and that someone fell down to the floor.  
  
"Draco." Hermione whispered automatically and looked down, expecting to see a blond figure on the ground.  
  
"No." An icy voice answered and a red-haired girl stood up, wiping away the dust from her clothes. Hermione froze.  
  
Blaise. Blaise Zabini.  
  
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A pair of cold and green eyes looked at Hermione. "If it ain't the mudblood Granger."  
  
Hermione ignored the girl and tried to get pas her. "Leave me alone, Blaise." She said in a neutral tone. "I'm on my way to Draco."  
  
Blaise laid a hand on Hermione's shoulder and took a firm grip around it, preventing Hermione from moving.  
  
"And what makes you think that he is waiting for you, hmm?" The cold voice continued and a slight smile appeared on the girl's lips. Hermione laid her hand on Blaise's and removed it from her shoulder.  
  
"Let me go, Blaise." Hermione said with a dangerous tone in her voice. "I don't have time for this."  
  
Blaise shrugged and stepped back. "Whatever, Granger." she replied. "Run along." Hermione rushed past the girl, without even looking back. She took about four or five steps before Blaise's voice reached her again.  
  
"He isn't there."  
  
Hermione froze and turned around.  
  
"What do you mean?" she said as calmly as possible. "Where else could he be? It's six o'clock and the classes are over."  
  
"Well, then you have nothing to worry about, now do you?" Blaise said and grinned. Hermione watched her, trying to figure out what she's up to, but it was impossible. After several moments, Hermione turned around again and continued to run down the hallway, her black robes fluttering behind her.  
  
***  
  
"Harry, are you sure you are okay?" Ron said with a worried expression on his face. Harry grinned.  
  
"Oh, just listen to you." He smiled weakly. "You are the one who has been hit by a bludger and you are asking me whether I'm okay. Ironic, isn't it?"  
  
Ron laughed. "Madam Pomfrey can fix anything and you know that. Even if I don't like those visits, I sure feel perfectly healthy every time I walk out the Hospital Wing door."  
  
Harry nodded. "Yes, she sure is a Miracle-Maker." He said wearily and looked away. His best friend watched him for a minute and then sighed. He stretched out his legs, feeling the warmth from the fireplace embracing him.  
  
"Alright, Harry." he said. "What's up?"  
  
Harry, who had hid his face in his hands, looked up. "What do you mean?" he asked.  
  
Ron groaned.  
  
"Harry, 'Emergency Situation' is written all over your forehead." he said simply. "Now, tell me what happened while I was taken care of by our infamous Madam Pomfrey."  
  
Harry took a deep breath. "I talked to Hermione."  
  
"I see." If Ron had expected that, he didn't show it and hid it very well. "Well, what did she say?" he asked instead.  
  
"We... talked." Harry said and sighed. "About everything, I s'pose. About what has happened these last few weeks. About her relationship with Malfoy. About us."  
  
"Oh." Ron said. "Then you did a hell lot of talking." He grinned. Harry looked at him with a miserable look on his face.  
  
"Oh, come on." Ron smiled. "Don't look like a puppy dog that hasn't been fed for days. You talked to Hermione! Congratulations! It surely took you a long time before you had the guts to do that again."  
  
"Yeah, but several things are still bugging me." Harry replied.  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Well, you seem just too damn cheerful, for one thing. She performed the body-bind spell on you, remember? I thought you hated her."  
  
"I thought I hated her to." Ron answered wearily. "But then I realised one thing that made me think twice."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Harry, how long have we known Hermione?  
  
"Five years." Harry answered immediately.  
  
"Right." Ron continued. "And she's our best friend, right?"  
  
"She was before she hooked up with my mortal enemy." Harry answered bitterly and stood up. The anger was making his hands shake and he started to walk back and forth through the Common Room. "Geez, Ron, what do you want me to say? So, I forgave her. But that doesn't stop me from-"  
  
"Wait." Ron interrupted him with a startled expression on his face. "You forgave her?"  
  
"Yes, but-"  
  
"Well, why didn't you say that in the first place?" Ron's face lit up and he walked over to hug his friend. "Those are some good news!"  
  
"You didn't let me finish my sentence." Harry said patiently and released himself from Ron's grip. "I forgave her and I said that I trust her, but that doesn't change much. I've always trusted her and I always will." he continued. "But that's not what I'm worried about."  
  
"It's Malfoy, isn't it?"  
  
"The one and only." Harry said and grit his teeth. "I swear by Merlin, he is going to get her into trouble. He's using the fact that she's vulnerable, I know it."  
  
Ron thought for a minute. "We both know that Malfoy's a bastard and he doesn't give a fuck about other people's feelings." he said simply. "But, Harry, please think. What would he need Hermione for? Honestly." He looked at Harry, who's face seemed to be carved in stone.  
  
"What?" Ron asked him once more. Harry looked into the flames. Now he knew. It seemed so simple... why didn't he think about that before? So obvious...  
  
"Me." he said after several minutes. "He wants to get to me. Through her."  
  
***  
  
Finally Hermione reached the wall that was the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. Carefully she looked around. If Snape or someone else would catch her, she would be in real trouble. No one, except the specific house students had the password to their Common Room. And of course the teachers.  
  
And her.  
  
She had been in the Slytherin Common Room before. Draco was the one who told her the new password and she had been using it before. But now she was all alone and the most of the Slytherin students were probably in there right now. But she had to find Draco, so all she could hope for was that they wouldn't notice her.  
  
"Serpent Secrets." she whispered and the wall parted before her eyes.  
  
With careful, but fast steps she entered the Common Room and looked for a blond and tall figure. The Common Room was getting dark and she could see how the stars lit up in the sky, one by one. But it was still light enough for her to see that...  
  
He wasn't there. Several Slytherin students were sitting near the fireplace, but they seemed very busy with talking and laughing, so they didn't even notice her.  
  
She ran up the stairs to the boys' Dormitory, down the hallway and stopped by Draco's Prefect Room.  
  
She knocked on the door.  
  
No answer.  
  
Another knock.  
  
Still no answer.  
  
She leaned towards the door, listening for some noises that may come from the room.  
  
Nothing.  
  
"Draco, it's me." she whispered.  
  
No answer.  
  
Carefully, she reached out for the handle and pushed it forwards. The door opened without any sound and revealed Draco's room, which was completely in dark.  
  
One step. Two steps. Finally, she was inside his room. She knew that he wasn't there, so she tried to find something, a clue that might reveal his location to her.  
  
It was so dark in the room; she had to light up the tip of her wand to see something at all.  
  
The closet.  
  
She opened it and spotted several very expensive looking costumes, shirts and trousers. There was a special drawer for his socks, underwear, sweaters... He seemed so tidy when it came to his clothing, Hermione almost had to smile. She closed the closet and looked around.  
  
The desk.  
  
She approached it and looked for some papers.  
  
The surface of the desk was very clean, without any unneeded papers lying around. To Hermione's surprise, it reminded her a little about herself.  
  
She opened a drawer. School books.  
  
Another drawer. Pencils and pens.  
  
As she tried to open the third drawer, she realised that she couldn't. It was locked.  
  
For a second she considered the two possibilities. And then she decided.  
  
"Alohomora!" She pointed her wand towards the drawer and it almost immediately swung open.  
  
There was only one thing inside the drawer. And it was a letter, adressed to Draco.  
  
***  
  
Everything was silent. He could even hear the ghosts that were wandering down the hallways. So quiet...  
  
He looked behind the corner again. No one there. He sighed and looked at his watch.  
  
Someone should come soon. Right?  
  
Another five minutes and he still couldn't hear a soul.  
  
Another five minutes.  
  
Patience...  
  
Ten. Fifteen.  
  
And then...  
  
"Phew, I think I ate too much of that desert." a boys voice said with a pleasant tone of a human who was happy and satisfied.  
  
"Please, don't talk about food!" a girl replied and laughed. "I can't even think about it, it gives me stomach-ache everytime I do."  
  
Carefully, he looked around the corner and saw a boy and a girl approach the Portrait of the Fat Lady.  
  
Gryffindors.  
  
There was something dangerous in his silvery eyes. Something that made them look almost as dark as black.  
  
His hand squeezed lightly the bottle in his hands. He closed his eyes for a moment and remembered the moment when he knew that he couldn't use Hermione. He just couldn't. He didn't know why. It was more like a force that stopped him from doing it.  
  
No, he had to do this on his own.  
  
He looked at the two Gryffindors again.  
  
This was his way in. 


	9. Mysteries of the Night

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 9  
  
~Mysteries of the Night~  
  
Hermione hesitated for a minute. The envelope was drawing her attention to it, just lying there. It was in crème colour and the address was in red ink.  
  
"To Draco Thomas Malfoy, Slytherin, Hogwarts."  
  
She couldn't resist the temptation.  
  
"He will never find out anyway..." she whispered as she grabbed the envelope and opened it. A letter fell out of it and onto the ground. Her excited fingers grabbed it; with the other hand she brought the wand closer to the letter. She noticed that someone had been reading the letter over and over again, since the paper seemed to be very fragile. She started to read it.  
  
"Draco, my son..."  
  
Lucius Malfoy.  
  
Continue to read.  
  
"...Our Dark Lords patience is running out just as your time and the amount of chances you have to fulfil the mission. You know that very well.  
  
Just a half an hour ago Peter Pettigrew was here and warned me. If you are not going to succeed, they are going to torture you, me and your mother. And I'm starting to regret the fact that I laid my life in your hands, because you obviously seem to fail again, again and again. How hard can it be? From your last reports, I understood that you are making friends with that Granger girl. You know what to do. Use her to get to him, that's his vulnerable point. He would rather die than see one of his friends dying, right? 'The Boy Who Lived needs to become the Boy Who Died', those are the exact words from the Dark Lord..."  
  
Something cold and icy swept over Hermione's body. For a short moment, her heart stopped and didn't beat anymore.  
  
She continued to read.  
  
"... Our lives, mine and your mother's are lying in your hands, so be careful with them. If you are not going to fulfil the mission, the Dark Lord is going to replace you with a girl. A girl. That was what Peter said. I hope you still have some of that Malfoy pride in you and that you understand how important this is. Hurry, my son, hurry. The time is not on your side.  
  
L. Malfoy."  
  
Hermione stood there for several minutes, as if frozen on the point. The letter slipped out of her fingers and fell down to the ground.  
  
***  
  
Harry looked out through the window and watched the peaceful and beautiful nature. A falling star lit up the sky. As he turned his head, he saw that Ron had already fallen asleep.  
  
They had been talking for several hours, trying to come up with a plan how to burst Draco's delusional bubble.  
  
"Tomorrow." Harry had said. "Tomorrow I'm going to beat the crap out of him."  
  
"I'll be happy to assist." Ron had grit his teeth. "That heartless bastard. Of course he wanted to get to you through her! To use her! How didn't we see that before?"  
  
"Sometimes the most obvious answer is hard to believe." Harry had said. "We can talk more tomorrow. Now we've got to go to sleep."  
  
Ron had agreed and the both of them walked to the boys' dormitory, where Ron had easily fallen asleep.  
  
But even if Harry was the one who suggested that they should go to sleep, he couldn't.  
  
All he wanted was to have a moment of peace for himself. The thoughts and images were running through his head, moving faster than the Hogwarts Express.  
  
Hermione. Hermione when she said that she didn't love him anymore. Hermione when she entered the Common Room and the hate in her eyes when he talked to her about Ron. Hermione in Potions, sitting besides Draco, ignoring Harry completely. Still he could feel the wrath that filled him back then. Hermione's face as he said that he forgave her and the slight panic in her eyes as she ran away.  
  
Draco Malfoy.  
  
Harry started to breathe faster.  
  
So, this was another cunning plan of Malfoy's. Hurt the ones he loved the most to get to him. How brilliant.  
  
For the first time since Harry found out that Sirius Black had supposedly killed his parents, he could feel the incredible anger floating inside of him, getting into his heart, making it as black as the night.  
  
His eyes narrowed.  
  
He was lying there for a long time still being awake. Then his eyelids got heavier every minute and soon he couldn't fight of the urge to sleep anymore.  
  
***  
  
"Wiggery Twigit." the boy whispered and the Portrait of the Fat Lady swung around, revealing the Portrait Hole.  
  
"Come on." he whispered to the girl. She nodded, yawned and mumbled about something being very tired and sleepy. The both of them crawled into the Common Room and the Portrait hid the Entrance once again.  
  
After several minutes, Draco stepped out from his hiding place and approached the Portrait with careful steps. The Fat Lady looked at him with an intrigued gaze.  
  
"Are you new here?" she asked the boy. "'Cause I don't recall seeing you here before and my memory's quite fine."  
  
"Don't worry about that, lady." Draco said. "Wiggery Twigit."  
  
The Fat Lady raised her eyebrows and turned around quickly, trying to hide the annoyed look she had on her face.  
  
Draco crawled through the Hole and could feel how the entrance closed behind him.  
  
And the next minute he was in the Gryffindor Common Room.  
  
It was empty.  
  
"So this is the Gryffindor Common Room." He thought and looked around. Everything was so peaceful. Even the Portraits on the walls were sleeping, making the room look timeless. The fire was still burning in the fireplace, and suddenly the room became a twilight zone where the light from the fire was dancing its last dance with the dark shadows of the room. The couches and sofas looked very comfortable.  
  
His feet carried him upstairs to the boys' dormitory. They seemed to know the way even if he didn't. Slowly, he reached out his hand and opened the door.  
  
Draco took a deep breath and stepped inside. The calm and regular breaths of five boys met him.  
  
"Dormiens." He whispered and an almost invisible steam came out of his wand and surrounded the whole room, making everyone except Draco sink into a bewitched sleep. Now they couldn't disturb him.  
  
Harry's bed was the second from the door.  
  
Draco stopped and his grip around the bottle and his wand tightened.  
  
"Should this be so hard?" He thought and took several steps towards him. "I hate him, don't I? I don't even have to kill him..." He looked at his bed and he could the silhouette of a body because of the light coming from the open door. "All I have to do is body-bind him and give him this..." He looked at the tiny bottle in his hand. "...and he'll say everything. All his secrets, everything the Dark Lord needs to know. And then..." "But if you do this, you'll loose the first person that has ever believed in you." a little, annoying voice said. "You'll lose Hermione and she'll hate you, just as she did before everything happened."  
  
"But my parents..." another voice said desperately. "They are going to die if I don't do something."  
  
The other, annoying voice laughed. "You are deceiving yourself." the voice said. "You don't give a damn about them. And why should you? They have treated you like garbage. Always taking you for granted..."  
  
"But they are my parents." the other voice said intensely.  
  
"...Your father hit you." the voice continued. "He wanted you to be just as cruel and heartless a bastard as he is. And if you do this, he'll succeed and you will lose. He has you in his palm and he's playing with you just as with a simple toy. Who cares whether he dies or not? He deserves to die."  
  
"But what about my mother? She hasn't done anything wrong."  
  
"Well, she married your father in the first place. And she's such a coward! She knows how he's treating you, but has she done anything about it? No." the cruel voice continued. "She doesn't love you strong enough to defend you. The question is - does she deserve to live?"  
  
Draco closed his eyes. He was tarred between these two voices, these two powers.  
  
The both of them were right and the both of them were wrong. The both of them were good and the both of them were evil.  
  
The time was ticking away, time he couldn't afford loose. Dean Thomas turned around in his sleep.  
  
***  
  
Hermione started to breathe slowly. The dark and empty room suddenly scared her and she wanted to get out of there.  
  
"He used me..." The inevitable voice in her head whispered as she gripped the edge of the chair to maintain her balance. The truth hurt more than she could imagine it would.  
  
Why?  
  
Because she loved him?  
  
She didn't know. Maybe.  
  
Because she trusted him?  
  
Yes.  
  
How could she trust him? How could she open her heart to him? How...? What a fool she was. What a fool. She really thought he had changed... for her.  
  
Why didn't he do anything before? Maybe he was just biding his time and playing with her, with her emotions and feelings? She was just a toy to him. Just a toy...  
  
She closed her eyes a silent tear ran down her cheek.  
  
No. Don't cry.  
  
She opened her eyes and swallowed something large and painful in her throat. With the back of her left hand she wiped away the tears and took a deep breath.  
  
She wouldn't cry for him. Not anymore. He didn't deserve her tears.  
  
She stepped over the hated letter on the floor and walked out of the room. Then she stopped.  
  
What now?  
  
"Harry." she whispered, suddenly realising the importance of the letter and what it meant for him. "I must warn him before it's too late."  
  
In a sudden panic she startled down the stairs, not even caring anymore whether someone would hear her or not. She ran into the Common Room, which was practically empty, and rushed towards the Exit.  
  
"Stop." a cold voice said, making her stop. She thought she recognized the voice and moaned.  
  
"Blaise, I really don't have time for this..." she sighed and turned around. Her eyes widened as she was met by the sight of...  
  
"You." she whispered. Then a spell hit her and the world went dark.  
  
***  
  
Draco stood there for a while, looking at the two possibilities. Two roads were ahead of him.  
  
And then he knew what to do. One of the roads disappeared in the darkness, leaving only one of them.  
  
There was no other choice. No one had a choice anymore.  
  
"There was only power and those who were too weak to seek it." A slight smile appeared on his lips as he remembered those words. His father always repeated them.  
  
And now he knew that they were true.  
  
He didn't have a choice. The image of a smiling Hermione faded away.  
  
It was just a stupid dream. A dream that could never come true.  
  
Slowly he approached Harry's bed and raised his wand.  
  
"Stupefy." He whispered and performed the spell on the boy. Harry didn't even have the possibility to move or open his eyes.  
  
"Mobilicorpus."  
  
The spell lifted Harry, making him levitate two feet above the bed. With an  
  
expressionless face, Draco turned around and walked out of the dormitory, Harry floating peacefully behind him. Draco closed the door, leaving the four boys as they were still captured in the bewitched sleep.  
  
*** (ten minutes later) ***  
  
As Professor Severus Snape entered the Slytherin Common Room, it was empty and there were no signs of any struggle. He walked up to Draco Malfoy's Prefect Room, expecting to find the boy asleep.  
  
Professor Minerva McGonagall walked up the stairs to the boys' dormitory, still feeling a bit surprised by the sudden orders Albus Dumbledore had given her. She entered the dormitory and approached Harry's bed.  
  
Then she rushed out of the Boy's Dormitory and ran the opposite way, to the girls' dormitory.  
  
After five minutes the alarm was spreading through the whole castle. 


	10. Into the Darkness

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 10  
  
~Into the Darkness~  
  
*** (10 minutes earlier) ***  
  
Draco closed the door behind him. Harry was still levitating peacefully several steps away from him. Draco looked at his mortal enemy and was almost disgusted as he saw how helpless he looked like.  
  
"I could kill you right now." He thought. "And you wouldn't even know what hit you. How pathetic."  
  
For a minute he just looked at him. Then he stuffed his hands in his pockets and pulled out something out of it. It was the same tissue Draco once gave Hermione, the one with the letters "DM" on it. He moved the hand closer to his face, slowly, as if struggling with an invisible power; he allowed the tissue touch his face.  
  
Her scent was still there.  
  
For a moment he closed his eyes and remembered...  
  
Then he opened his eyes again and this time they were as cold as steel.  
  
She was just a dream and he once was foolish enough to dream it. But not anymore. He looked at the tissue again. A sly grin crossed his face. Who could've thought that this was a portkey? No one. And it wasn't just a simple portkey - only he knew how to use it and it would only listen to him. He remembered the day his father bought it for him in the Knockturn Alley. His mother was the one who attached the silver and golden letters 'DM' to the tissue, making it look as if it was made especially for him.  
  
"Take care of this portkey, son." He had said. "This is a very special portkey. You are the only one who can use it and you activate it by thinking about the person you want to go to. I believe it will be very useful."  
  
His father was right, just as always.  
  
Draco waved with his wand, making Harry float closer to him. Then, suddenly, his body fell carelessly to the ground. Draco laid one hand around his back and tried to balance his body as he took Harry's hand and laid the tissue in it. Then his fingers slid over the letters as he whispered:  
  
"Take me to my father, Lucius Malfoy." He whispered.  
  
He could feel how his hand was literally glued to the tissue and apparently so was Harry's. His other hand was laid around Harry's shoulders. And then he felt how his feet lost the ground and the world turned upside down.  
  
*** (Back to the usual time) ***  
  
Both Professor McGonagall and Snape rushed into the Headmaster's office with worried looks on her face. You could hear how the ghosts were yelling something about missing students in the background. The alarm was waking up all the students in all the Houses. Except for four boys in the Boy's Dormitory in the Gryffindor House.  
  
Albus Dumbledore was awaiting them with an unexplainable glint in his eyes.  
  
"Albus, they are gone." Minerva said, trying to catch her breath. "Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, the both of them are gone and they are nowhere to be found. The rest of the boys in the Dormitory have been bewitched and it'll take a strong Awakening Potion to wake them up."  
  
"Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini." Snape said. "Both of them gone and also they are nowhere to be found." He glanced at Minerva and then back to Albus. "Albus, we need an explanation. Four students are mysteriously disappeared, and not only just any students, but Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy! And Hermione Granger and Blaise Zabini! And..." He lowered his voice. "I can hear the callings, Albus. I can hear how they are calling for me. Albus-"  
  
Albus Dumbledore raised a hand and the both of them went quiet.  
  
"The young Malfoy made his move sooner than I expected him to." He whispered. "And I must say that I admire the young fellow. He thought fast and he made a decision. I'm afraid there's only one thing we can do and if we are going to succeed, I'll need full cooperation from the both of you." He looked at the both of them. Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape glanced at each other and looked away almost immediately.  
  
"The lives of innocent students are at stake here, the life of Harry Potter." Minerva started to speak first. "Of course you can count on me."  
  
"You know that you can count on me to." Snape added quickly. Albus smiled.  
  
"Yes, I know that." He said. "But the both of you had to realise by yourself."  
  
Neither Minerva nor Severus got any wiser of those words.  
  
"Now, here's what we have to do..." Albus started.  
  
***  
  
Cold. Breathtaking cold was sweeping over her body, reaching out for her heart.  
  
She shivered and slowly regained her consciousness. She searched into the depths of her memory, trying to remember.  
  
She tried to open her eyes. Everything was so fuzzy; it was like as if a white mist was laid over her eyes, preventing her from seeing.  
  
What had happened? Where was sh-  
  
"Well well well. The Sleeping Beauty is awake." She could hear how someone took several steps towards her. Because of her bad eyesight, she couldn't see anything else but the contour of a man.  
  
"Who are you? Where am I?" She exclaimed weakly and tried to move. Suddenly she realised that she was tied up to a chair. "Why have you tied me up?"  
  
The man laughed. "Well, it seems as if you have many questions, although I thought that you already knew the answer to the first one. As I captured you, you seemed to recognize me."  
  
Hermione narrowed her eyes. It was impossible to see and her eyes hurt. She closed her eyes.  
  
"I can't see you, but you just wait until..." She said and struggled to get out of the chair.  
  
"Until what?" The man laughed again. "You are wasting your time and your energy, Hermione Granger."  
  
Hermione froze and didn't struggle anymore. "You know my name?" She exclaimed.  
  
"I certainly do." The man replied. "I don't know whether you remember me or not, but we've met before."  
  
"Reveal your identity to me." Hermione hissed. "I want my kidnapper to have a face."  
  
The man didn't answer. "Later, perhaps." He finally said and Hermione heard how he walked away.  
  
Blaise watched the scene with a straight face, although her lips couldn't hide the tiny smile.  
  
"This ought to be good." She whispered to the man. He nodded.  
  
"All we have to do now is to wait." He answered and looked at his watch. "And I really hope that things will work out just as you said they would. Otherwise, you know the consequences."  
  
Blaise nodded. "I do. But don't worry; everything should work out just fine."  
  
***  
  
The magical whirlwind, the Portkey, dropped them off just outside a large Mansion. Fortunately, Draco managed to stay on his feet. As his vision cleared, he looked up at the Mansion that was surrounded by trees.  
  
The Malfoy Mansion.  
  
Draco, who was still keeping Harry up, released his grip over him and laid him down to the ground. He was just about to perform another spell on Harry, as he sensed that someone was watching him. Carefully, he turned around, with his wand in his right hand.  
  
"Who's there?" He asked as calmly as he could. "This is the Malfoy Mansion, a private property, so I suggest that you get the hell out of here-"  
  
"My son." A voice interrupted him and it seemed to come from the Gates, the Entrance to the Mansion. Draco's head turned in that direction, just find Lucius Malfoy standing there.  
  
"Father." He whispered.  
  
Lucius Malfoy was standing behind the Gates and he watched his son with a straight face. Dressed in black and with his bright blue eyes, there was a certain aura of respect around him. He scared you, but you still respected him. Maybe it was because of the senseless face, maybe the cold eyes. Draco didn't know why it was, but his heart froze every time he saw him and he became more and more cold-blooded. Every time he looked upon his face, he remembered...  
  
"Come here, son, come here. I just want to... Show you something."  
  
"Father, father no!"  
  
"Don't worry, Thomas. Now come here now, my boy..."  
  
The screams, they filled his head, they tortured and mocked him. And every time he saw his face...  
  
God, he just wished he would never be like him. What an ironical thought, wasn't it? And now he was here, following in his fathers footsteps, bringing his enemy with him. He knew that they would kill him.  
  
He was doing exactly those things he most hated about his father and the rest of the Death-Eaters. Why?  
  
Because he had no choice. This was the only way to save his mother and even if she couldn't save him, he would save her. After this he'll find a way to get her out of the dreadful chains his father had been tying her on to. When this is over... Will it ever be over?  
  
"My son." Lucius whispered and unlocked the Gates. "We have been waiting for you." Draco pointed with his wand towards Harry's body on the ground.  
  
"He's out cold and he'll stay that way for a while." He said in a careless tone, avoiding the gaze of his father.  
  
A slight smile appeared on Lucius's lips.  
  
"You've fulfilled your mission; the Dark Lord will be pleased." He said. "I prayed for your success, my son, you've saved yours, mine and your mother's life. Now, follow me into the castle, we've got a little surprise for you and we are quite sure you'll... Enjoy it."  
  
For the first time, Draco's eyes met Lucius's. The cold metal against the blue ice. Without saying another word, Draco started to walk towards the Gates, Harry levitating behind him. He walked through the Gates. He walked past his father without even looking at him and continued to walk towards the castle. 


	11. Between Heaven and Earth

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 11  
  
~Between heaven and earth~  
  
"Harry." A soft voice reached into his mind and broke the walls of the spell. "Harry."  
  
Slowly, Harry opened his eyes. The loving face of his mother was looking back at him.  
  
The face continued to smile as Harry's eyes widened.  
  
He knew that magic could do great things. Everyone knew that. But this was impossible. Or some really dark magic. Was this some kind of sick joke...?  
  
Harry looked at his mother, for the first time in his life, he saw her true face. She wasn't a ghost, a vision or a dream. She was here and she was real. Slowly he reached out and touched one of her red locks. He could feel the soft hair against his skin. He could feel how his eyes filled with tears as she hugged him. For the first time in his conscious life, he was with his mother. She was embracing him in a way only a mother could do and Harry rested his head on her shoulder.  
  
"I'm dreaming." He said, not even knowing how he was able to speak. He didn't want to move, to blink because he afraid that if he would do that, she would disappear. Lily smiled and looked at him.  
  
"Sort of." She replied as her fingers ran through his hair in a gentle gesture. "You are in the Inbetween, my son. Between the reality and the dreams. Sometimes, wizards and witches get here when they've been hit by a very powerful spell, just like you."  
  
"How...?" He whispered. "And my... Father? Is he here?"  
  
Lily laid her fingers across his mouth and prevented him from speaking. "I'm sorry; they could only send one person." She said softly. "They sent me to you because you needed help. You can't go back otherwise."  
  
Harry wasn't sure whether he wanted to go back and that was exactly what he told his mother. She shook her head.  
  
"You can't stay here, son." She whispered and looked at him with great love in her eyes. "It's not your time yet and you have friends and family who will miss you. Please don't let them down."  
  
Harry looked at his mother. He knew that she was telling the truth, but still his heart was already aching as he thought about the minute they would be separated again.  
  
"All right then." He mumbled unwillingly and looked down. His mother smiled.  
  
"Just like James..." She whispered and looked at Harry's green eyes and at his untidy, jet-black hair. "Harry." She said and bit her lip. "Try to remember what happened, there must be a way I could help you."  
  
Harry sighed and for the first time, he looked around. There wasn't much to see. A white mist was all over the place and the sky was black as the night. Since he couldn't see the ground, he got the freaky feeling of taking one false step and falling down into Nowhere. He shrugged and his gaze returned back to his mother, who was watching him carefully. Their eyes locked, but he wasn't able to hold them and instead, he looked down and hid his face in his hands.  
  
"I was in my Dormitory." He started and closed her eyes, trying to remember. "And I probably fell asleep. I was talking to Ron earlier that evening about..." He paused.  
  
"Draco Malfoy." He whispered and stood up. "It must be him. He has Hermione and now he has me."  
  
Lily looked at him and didn't ask any questions. There weren't time for any questions. "God." She thought. "He's just like James... The same spirit, the same fire... And the same vulnerable heart."  
  
"Harry." She whispered softly. "I see you have your own battles to fight, your own discoveries to make. But remember, that sometimes things aren't how they appear to be."  
  
Harry sighed. "Mum, you don't know Malfoy and-"  
  
"I know his father, Lucius Malfoy though." Lily interrupted him. "You know, I liked him once."  
  
Harry's eyes widened and were about to pop out.  
  
"You what?!" He said with his mouth wide open. He couldn't even find any words for her surprise. "Y-you liked him?!"  
  
If the situation wouldn't have been that serious, Lily would've laughed. Now he looked like his father more than ever.  
  
"Yes." She nodded. "He was a very charming man." She said dreamily. "He was the ideal disaster and if there's something you should know about us, girls, is that we usually fall for the ideal disasters. However, he wasn't quite that open as a person and he always had an eye for Narcissa Richardson." She said. Harry continued to stare at her.  
  
"Oh, stop it, silly." She hugged him. "I didn't say I loved him, did I?" She grinned. "Your father captured my heart and "unfortunately" there was nothing I could do to stop him. And I didn't want him to stop either." She smiled as her hands ran through Harry's hair again. He seemed to calm down, but he was still a bit upset.  
  
"But you still know that he does belong to the Dark Side, don't you?" He said in a convincing voice.  
  
She looked at him.  
  
"I heard some rumours about him, but I wasn't sure whether they were true." She whispered and looked at her son. "What have you heard?"  
  
"Lucius Malfoy was exposed as a Death-Eater and he returned to the Good Side after the Dark Times, claiming that they were being controlled by the Imperius Curse." Harry recalled what Hagrid had been telling him. "And Arthur Weasley, the dad to a friend of mine, he is convinced that they are still keeping the contact with the rest of the Death Eaters. And I'm positive that he is right." He said. "Draco Malfoy is always bragging about how his father is like this and like that and once we even overheard him saying that his father has a dark stuff collection at their Mansion." Harry remembered the time he and Ron turned themselves into Crabbe and Goyle. He still was shocked by the way everything went so smooth that time. Harry grinned at the thought. Then he became serious again and looked at his mother. "So even if he was just like you said he was at Hogwarts, he has changed completely, ma. And his son is just as sneaky and nasty as he is, probably following in his father's footsteps."  
  
Lily watched her son. "Harry, remember that sometimes are not like they seem." She repeated. Harry shrugged carelessly.  
  
"This seems like a clear case to me." He said. "And now Draco has been using Hermione to get to me... Something only a true son of a Death-Eater would do."  
  
Lily didn't reply. Instead, she hugged her son and closed her eyes.  
  
"I have something to give you, son." She suddenly said. "It was supposed to be an early gift before your second birthday..." She trailed off and tried not to think about it. Slowly, she reached out her hand and there was something silvery in her hands.  
  
It was a silver necklace with the letter 'H' on it. The letter was covered with emeralds and there was a special, magical light about it.  
  
Harry stared at the necklace and took it with trembling fingers. He thought that the metal would be cold, but instead it was warm. Harry's heart jumped as he looked closer at it.  
  
A gift. A gift from his parents.  
  
Lily looked at Harry and smiled.  
  
"I see you like it." She whispered. Harry looked up at his mother, feeling speechless.  
  
"Thank you." He exclaimed and hugged her again, never wanting to let her go. He breathed in her scent and closed his eyes, wanting the moment to last forever. It only seemed to last a second.  
  
"You have to go now." Lily said in a calm tone and pulled him away from her. "And so do I. We both have our duties."  
  
Harry nodded while his eyes were filling with the pain he was feeling inside. For a short moment, he had been happy here with his mother. Only for a short moment.  
  
"Tell my father that I said hi." Harry said and swallowed. "Tell him... Tell him... Tell him that his son is going to make him proud."  
  
Lily smiled and touched Harry's cheek. Then she took the necklace out of his hands and put it around his neck where the letter 'H' was twinkling cheerily. "He is already proud of you, honey." She whispered and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "Now go."  
  
"Where can I go from here?" He asked her and looked around at the Nothing around them.  
  
"Back. Back where you came from. They are going to wake you up soon." Lily said.  
  
"Go." She repeated in a painful voice. "Go and please don't look back."  
  
Harry nodded and didn't even notice the tiers that were running down his cheeks. With a last look on his mother, he turned around and started to walk, feeling how his heart broke into thousand pieces.  
  
Soon she couldn't see him anymore and he was hid by the white mist.  
  
***  
  
Lucius followed his son and Harry, closing the Gates behind him. Draco didn't even look around and he didn't have to. He knew the Mansion Grounds by heart. The same dangerous plants, tall and dark trees... And someone had been obviously performed a spell on the Mansion and its Grounds, since the sky above it was always cloudy and rainy.  
  
Draco didn't complain though. He liked cloudy and rainy weather; there was something calm and soothing about it.  
  
He could feel his fathers gaze burning in his back, but he tried to ignore it as much as possible. Still, his heart was beating in a fast rhythm and not even a muscle moved in his face.  
  
His father had a surprise for him. And he couldn't recall the last time he enjoyed his father's surprises.  
  
Thinking these thoughts, he approached the large oak door that was the Entrance to the Malfoy Mansion.  
  
He opened the door and walked into the Main Entrance with Harry (who was still levitating) and his father behind him. As soon as he had been walking several steps into the room, he turned around and glanced at his father.  
  
"All right, father." He said, snapped with his fingers and Harry's body fell down to the ground, again. "You have Potter now although I don't understand why you could send someone of our staff, Gary for instance, and pick him up. This is going to look very suspicious as I return to Hogwarts. Well, if you excuse me, I'm going to take a shower before I return back to the school-"  
  
"Just wait a minute son, would you?" A cold smile appeared on Lucius's lips. "You still haven't seen your surprise yet." He clapped with his hands and two house-elves appeared.  
  
"Yes, master?" One of them said, looking up at Lucius Malfoy with scared look on his face.  
  
"Pick him up." He pointed at Harry who was lying on the ground. "And take him to the Midnight Room. Don't let him out of your sight and stun him if he wakes up."  
  
The two elves nodded and quickly disappeared out of their sight, carrying Harry in their arms.  
  
Lucius return back at his son and his smile went even broader.  
  
"Now, follow me, Draco." He continued to smile as he started to walk down the stairs that led to the dungeons.  
  
A cold hand took a grip over his heart as he slowly started to follow him.  
  
Not again...  
  
***  
  
Hermione had lost all her sense of time. She didn't even know whether it was day or night anymore. How long had she been in here? A few hours? A day? Two? The whole eternity?  
  
Her eyesight was better now and she could clearly see where she was.  
  
It was a cell. A simple and cold dungeon cell. In it there was nothing more except the chair she was tied to. She did try to move it against the wall and try to move the ropes against the hard wall, but in the result her hands started to bleed terribly and there was no use to continue that hopeless method. The problem was that there was nothing else she could do and that killed her.  
  
She didn't struggle anymore. Her wrists were bleeding because of her pitiful tries to get out of the ropes. She was hurt, not much because of the pain, but because of the fact that she couldn't do it. She couldn't get out of there, she, one of the smartest witches at Hogwarts. Her pride was hurt.  
  
The pain didn't matter to her anymore, but the terrible thirst was torturing her. She hadn't been drinking something for... She couldn't remember for how long but it seemed to be very long. Her throat was soar and it was tickling unpleasantly. But the only thing that seemed to be important right now was... Harry and Draco. Where were they? What was happening? Had Draco succeeded with his mission?  
  
Her eyelids trembled.  
  
What if... What if Harry...  
  
Her eyes filled with tears.  
  
She couldn't even imagine.  
  
***  
  
As they walked down the stairs, there was a man and a girl going in the opposite direction and Draco didn't pay any of his attention to them since he was used that the staff were going around in pairs. They didn't dare to walk alone.  
  
He continued to walk past them and only stopped as he heard a familiar voice calling his name.  
  
"Hi, Draco."  
  
He froze as soon as he saw who they were.  
  
Peter Pettigrew and Blaise Zabini.  
  
Both of them looked at him with an unexplainable, yet amused look on their faces. "Lucius." Peter nodded coldly towards Draco's father, still glancing at Draco. "You have Potter?"  
  
Lucius nodded. "He's in the Midnight Room and my elves are keeping an eye on him. He's all yours."  
  
Peter smiled. "Great job, the both of you." He grinned. "The Dark Lord is going to be pleased."  
  
Draco's heart started to beat faster. Something was wrong. What were they all doing here...?  
  
"Blaise." He performed something he thought was a charming smile and kissed her gently on her cheek. "Who or what do I have to thank you for this pleasant surprise?"  
  
Then he looked at Peter. "And Peter Pettigrew, the loyal and trustworthy servant of the Dark Lord." He said and made a deep and elegant bow as he looked at Peter with a sarcastic look on his face. He was just a damn rat. A rat that had been eating too much cheese and was about to blow.  
  
Peter nodded slightly in return, looking at him with his watery eyes.  
  
"Draco." He said. "How nice to see you again. Oh, by the way, Lucius, were you just on your way to..."  
  
"Yes." Lucius nodded. "So, if you excuse us, I think that we could continue this little chit-chat later..."  
  
"Of course." Peter smiled and looked at Blaise. "C'mon, let's go."  
  
The evil smile appeared on Blaise's lips too and she whispered to Draco:  
  
"See you later, Honey." And blinked with one eye. Then she continued to walk up the stairs together with Peter. Draco looked at them for the last time and the both of them waved at him.  
  
Something strange was going on...  
  
"Hurry, Draco." Lucius said and looked at him. Draco nodded weakly and followed his father into the dungeons.  
  
They entered the main tunnel and passed several cells.  
  
  
  
Hermione couldn't believe her ears as she heard footsteps coming closer.  
  
Maybe they were releasing her!  
  
She opened her eyes.  
  
Finally, Lucius stopped at a dark cell.  
  
"Here's our surprise to you." He said softly and looked at his son. "I hope you like it." Draco didn't even dare to...  
  
He took several steps towards the cell and looked into it to see who was in there.  
  
  
  
His eyes found hers. Her eyes widened and a soundless scream escaped from her mouth.  
  
The wand, which he was still holding in his hands, fell down to the floor.  
  
  
  
A/N - No, of course it's not the end. Just another cliff hanger. I know, I'm evil, mwhahaha! ^^ No, seriously, there's more coming up a.s.a.p. 


	12. Curses, tears & blood

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 12  
  
~Curses, tears & blood~  
  
A/N: Okay, this is a dark one. *shivers* I'm even considering about R- rating it now. But I want to tell you the story I wanted from the beginning and I'm not going to change it. It's not over yet anyways. So, here it goes...  
  
Draco stared at Hermione and she stared back at him. A whole eternity passed and nothing else existed except the two of them.  
  
"Like it?" Lucius's voice broke the silence. "Peter ran into her as he was picking up Blaise. He had to take her with him since she recognized him. We thought it might be a nice surprise for you." His grin widened. "What's better than having the Mudblood Granger watching how The Boy Who Lived dies?"  
  
Hermione's eyes widened and she lost all control over her body.  
  
Harry.  
  
She started to shake uncontrollably and her eyes were looking around as if she was a captured animal. Then she stopped to look at Draco.  
  
He was standing there, like a statue, with an expressionless face. His heart was beating in a slow rhythm and he didn't seem to realise what was happening. Hermione's eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth.  
  
"Bastard." She spit out the word like a poison and tried to move the chair as far away from Draco as possible. She was acting like a wild animal in panic.  
  
Draco's eyes continued to avoid her.  
  
This isn't happening. God, please, tell me that this isn't happening.  
  
Slowly, he bent down to pick up his wand from the floor. Then he stepped back several steps and looked at his father.  
  
He asked a question. He didn't ask it loudly because he couldn't speak, but he knew that his father would understand him.  
  
Why? Why father, why?  
  
His father saw the question and the pain in his eyes and he understood.  
  
"I see you are not fond of my present." Lucius said calmly. "Oh silly me, I thought that you would be the one who would have the pleasure of torturing her a bit before we take her to the Midnight Room."  
  
Draco's heart jumped, but he still wasn't able to say anything. Hermione tried to move the chair further away, but it was impossible. Lucius noticed the movement in the cell and turned his head to look at Hermione.  
  
"Just like a bloody guinea pig." He grinned and looked back at Draco. "Well, then, if you don't mind, I'll take over the pleasure..." He pulled out his wand out of his robes and pointed towards Hermione.  
  
"Crucio."  
  
A pain, a pain that was everything beyond her wildest nightmares racked into her, her body was torn apart... She thought that her head would split into two pieces and there was nothing except the pain.  
  
She fell down to her knees, dragging the chair along, but she didn't even notice that.  
  
The tears were running down her cheeks and she was screaming, but she didn't notice that either.  
  
The pain increased and she saw something red running down her face, but she didn't know...  
  
Lucius smiled.  
  
Draco felt the pain as if it was his own. His head was exploding and he could feel every inch of the pain surrounding him.  
  
He couldn't let her die.  
  
He looked at his father and the evil smile on his face. He would torture her until she was almost dead and then he would leave her, letting her wake up again and regain her consciousness. And then she would watch Harry die and die along with him. Oh, he had seen this so many times.  
  
But this time he couldn't let it happen.  
  
Not now.  
  
Not ever again.  
  
"Stop." He whispered and looked at his father.  
  
Lucius didn't seem to hear him and he kept his eyes fixed on the girl that let out another painful scream.  
  
Oh, how he hated him.  
  
"I said stop. STOP!!!" Draco yelled and without even knowing what he was doing, he waved with his wand and pointed it towards his father.  
  
"Avada Kedavra!"  
  
A bolt of green light shot out of his wand and hit his own father.  
  
Luciu's maintained the smile on his lips as he fell down to the floor. He didn't even blink.  
  
Draco breathed and something cold swept over him.  
  
Father.  
  
His father's body on the floor.  
  
He hoped that he would die. He hoped that the spell was strong enough to kill him. Draco kneeled down besides him and checked on his pulse.  
  
Please, let him be dead.  
  
There was no pulse.  
  
  
  
"You killed him." It was a contestation, not a question.  
  
He turned around and saw how the blood was running down her face.  
  
"You killed him." She repeated monotonously. "I didn't think you had it in you. I was apparently wrong."  
  
Draco looked at her, while his mind was completely blank.  
  
She was laughing.  
  
The hysterical laughter filled the dungeons and was spreading all the way up the stairs.  
  
She laughed so hard, the blood was dripping down her face and into her mouth, but she didn't notice that.  
  
"Don't you see?" She laughed even harder and looked into his eyes. "He won over you anyway! He succeeded! Now you are a true son of a Death-Eater and that was exactly what he wanted to achieve! He won!"  
  
Draco stared at her as she continued to laugh.  
  
"Hail the son of Lucius Malfoy, a true son of a Death-Eater!" She saluted and laughed as her blood started to mix together with her tears.  
  
"She is right," Draco realised. "I was a true son of a Death-Eater and my father wanted to prove that to me."  
  
He glanced back at the body on the floor. The colour of the face started to fade slowly, leaving him pearly white.  
  
He should miss him, shouldn't he? He should feel some regret, loss, angst, panic...  
  
Nothing came to him.  
  
Absolutely nothing except the emptiness that filled him.  
  
Slowly, Draco stood up and approached the cell. She stopped to laugh and looked at him with her large brown eyes.  
  
Not even a muscle moved in his face as he entered the cell, removing the wards around it with a quick spell. He walked over to her and as she dodged, he removed the chains that tied her up to the chair.  
  
"What is it, Hermione?" He asked her as he helped her get up with one hand. "Thought that I might kill you too?" He raised an eyebrow and grinned as she stood up.  
  
She stared at him, slowly realising what was happening.  
  
"What are you going to do to me now?" She slowly asked him, bringing her hands together for the first time under a long period. The dead body was drawing her attention to it and she had to put some serious bonds on herself and not to look at it.  
  
This was a nightmare.  
  
Everything was a nightmare.  
  
The body, this cell, the cold metal glint in Draco's eyes... Or was it Draco she looked at? He seemed so distant, so...  
  
If she wouldn't know better, she would've thought that the Dementors Kiss had been performed on him.  
  
There was no soul left in his body. Nothing.  
  
"I'm going to take you to the Midnight Room, of course." He replied calmly and dragged her out of the cell. "That was my father's last wish, wasn't it?"  
  
He stepped over his father's body as if it was a pile of dirt. Hermione tried to resist, but she was too weak and she jumped over it in disgust.  
  
Draco looked at his father's body for the last time. There was no hate in his eyes and nothing that resembled any kind of other feelings either. Nothing.  
  
"Rest in peace, father." He whispered. Then he turned around and started to walk towards the stairs, holding Hermione's hand in a dead tight grip. He didn't look back.  
  
***  
  
Peter was standing outside the Midnight Room with an impatient look on his face. Several times he was about to push the handle, but something stopped him from doing it.  
  
He had after all Lucius and Draco Malfoy to thank for this and he felt that with the leftovers of dignity he had, that he had to wait until they arrived.  
  
A slight grin was spreading across his face every time he thought about 'the surprise' in the dungeons. He hoped that they didn't kill that Mudblood though. The more torture and pain he could cause to Harry Potter, the better.  
  
What a pity that Ron Weasley wasn't there. He would love to torture him too.  
  
Blaise wasn't there anymore. She had said something about wanting to wait for Draco when he arrives back to the school, hopped on her broom and flied back to Hogwarts. Peter started to walk back and fourth, getting more impatient than ever.  
  
"It can't take that long..." He growled and looked at the paintings that were hanging on the wall. Suddenly he heard footsteps of two people that were coming closer. He let out a sigh of relief and turned around, just to face Draco and Hermione.  
  
"Draco." He smiled and looked at him and the girl. "I'm glad you brought the girl, I was thinking about letting her watch how the Dark Lord kills Harry Potter-" He stopped abruptly. Something fishy was going on. Draco's face was carved in stone and the girl was breathing fast, while the tears were running down her face. The blood didn't run anymore, although it was still all over her.  
  
"Where's your father?" He asked Draco, watching him carefully.  
  
Draco shrugged.  
  
"He had some things he had to clear up first; he'll be here in a minute." He said coldly.  
  
Peter nodded slowly.  
  
"Very well, then." He said. "Do you think that we can visit the prisoner now?"  
  
"Well, why can't we?" Draco raised an eyebrow and didn't even look at Hermione. The grip around her hand tightened and she was afraid that he would break all her fingers. But she couldn't feel the pain.  
  
  
  
It was a large and dark room, painted in blue. The chandelier with the magical blue lights in it that was hanging down from the ceiling was the only thing that lit up the Midnight Room. Strange carvings and signs in the colour of red and green were carved in the walls, making the room look very mysterious and darker than it actually was. Harry woke up with a jerk and stood up immediately. He realised that he was lying on the floor only with a blanket over him.  
  
His mother.  
  
He brought his right hand to his neck and touched the silver necklace as his blanket fell of him.  
  
It was still there.  
  
So, it wasn't a dream?  
  
Where was he? For how long had he been in the Inbetween? Where was Draco? Did he have Hermione? What did he do to her?  
  
The questions were running through his head and he didn't have any answers.  
  
Suddenly he heard some careful whispers from the darkness of the room.  
  
"Should I curse him now?"  
  
"Is he awake?"  
  
"Well, yeah, don't you see?"  
  
A pause.  
  
"I don't know..."  
  
"You should do it. I don't dare."  
  
"Why should I curse Harry Potter? You do it."  
  
"Who's there?" Harry shouted out. After several seconds two small house- elves appeared and looked at him with their frightened eyes. One of them pointed his finger at him.  
  
"I-I shall curse you now." He exclaimed weakly.  
  
"Well, curse me then." Harry said daringly and looked at the elf. The elf continued to point his finger at Harry for a while, but then he let out a moan, brought his hands to his head as if he had a headache.  
  
"I can't!" He whimpered. "Spinky, you do it!"  
  
The other house elf shook his head. "I can't, Merry, I can't!" He said and started to cry. Harry looked at the two elves and could hear the desperation in their voices.  
  
"Hey..." He said softly. "You don't have to curse me, honestly." He settled down on the ground again. "I'll just stay here calmly and won't go anywhere." He looked at the elves. They didn't look at him anymore; instead, they looked towards the Entrance of the Midnight Room and stepped back with terrified expressions on their faces. The both of them let out tiny squeaks.  
  
Slowly, Harry turned around and saw how the Entrance was opened. The sudden light was blending him and he had to cover his eyes with his hands, still leaving a narrow opening.  
  
He could see the contours of three people. One of them was quite tall; the other one was short; and the third one...  
  
He couldn't believe his eyes.  
  
"Hermione." He whispered.  
  
***  
  
Down in the dungeons, in the Malfoy Mansion, there was a man's body lying on the floor and it wasn't moving.  
  
An innocent cockroach crawled out of nowhere and carefully approached the man. Soon it felt secure enough to crawl onto the man and look for something eatable. It tipped down to his hands and pockets, trying to find anything useful.  
  
A bit disappointed, the cockroach crawled out of the right pocket. Nothing there. Suddenly a hand reached out for the cockroach and squashed it.  
  
A/N: What's with the creepy ending? What will happen with Harry, will the Boy Who Lived live? Has Draco really gone mad? What will Hermione do to stop him and what about Peter? And...*brrr*... What about the Dark Lord?  
  
Find that out in the next chapter which will hopefully come soon. 


	13. The Midnight Room

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 13  
  
~The Midnight Room~  
  
"Hermione." Harry repeated desperately and looked at the young girl who was still holding Draco's hand.  
  
A light lit up the deep depths of her mind and her heart.  
  
Maybe there still was a hope.  
  
Or maybe not.  
  
What would happen when this would be over? Would she live? What would she do if she lived?  
  
Maybe she would kill herself.  
  
She would never forget the pain and the evil smile on Lucius's lips as he fell down to the floor.  
  
She looked away from him and at Draco. The glint in his eyes was still cruel and cold.  
  
"Harry Potter." Peter exclaimed and started to walk towards the boy. "A nice place for a reunion, isn't it? The Dark Lord will be pleased-"  
  
He didn't even manage to take three steps, until the spell hit him.  
  
"Stupefy!" Draco's wand pointed at him and Peter fell down to the ground, exactly ten meters from Harry and was out cold. Harry widened her eyes and stared at Peter Pettigrew at the floor. Draco grinned and looked at Hermione.  
  
"Sorry Honey, but I didn't feel like killing right now." He said ironically. "But I've always hated the rat though, so I'll take that in consideration."  
  
Hermione swallowed. Harry gulped and looked at his mortal enemy. In one corner of the eye, he could see how the house-elves disapparated from the room. Then he stared back at Draco and took several steps back as the last named started to approach him.  
  
"Malfoy." He exclaimed and realised that he didn't have a wand and there was nothing he could use to protect himself. What were the odds? And, Draco had Hermione. He had to play nice. "Malfoy, let Hermione go." He said in a convincing voice. "It's me you want, isn't that right? She has nothing to do with this; you just used her to get to me, didn't you? Well, you have me now, so why don't you let her go?"  
  
Please...  
  
Draco stopped and smirked, still holding Hermione's hand and not letting it go.  
  
The silence and the darkness in the room were surrounding him and the feeling that this was just a pure nightmare was becoming more real for every minute. The red carvings on the walls started to glow, reminding him of blood.  
  
Was this really happening?  
  
Draco glanced at Hermione and his heart froze.  
  
What had he done to her?  
  
Her eyes were... Empty. There was something scary about how careless she looked like. She glanced back from Harry to Draco with a weak interest on her face. Didn't she even care? God, what was happening?  
  
A week ago they were at Hogwarts and they were happy, living in their illusions. And now...  
  
"But I killed him for you," he thought desperately. Then his face became senseless again and he looked at Harry.  
  
"Unfortunately, Potter, you are wrong." Draco spoke in a dark voice and waved carelessly with his wand. "I don't want to get to you. I don't need to do that, by the way, you are walking right into the trap. Neat Potter, you spare me the work."  
  
Harry gave him a confused look and stepped backwards one more time. Now he was exactly in the middle of the room.  
  
"What do you mea-aaaaaahhh!!"  
  
As he took the last step backwards, an almost invisible, silvery wall surrounded him, parting him from the rest of the room, Draco and Hermione and he fell backwards. As he stood up, he could see a slight, silvery line all around him. As he brought his hand to it, it hit against an invisible wall.  
  
Furiously he racked into the wall. Once, twice. His shoulder started to hurt and he knew that there was nothing he could do.  
  
He breathed fast.  
  
"Let me out of here!!" He yelled and racked into the wall again. He could see Draco and Hermione standing outside the Invisible Cage that was made out of adamantine. And there was no way he could get out of an adamantine cell.  
  
He slammed his fist into the wall.  
  
Hermione gasped as she saw how the Wall surrounded Harry and she took a leap towards him, but was stopped by Draco who was still holding her hand in a dead tight grip.  
  
Draco looked at Hermione and smiled. "Oh, don't go there yet, Honey... I have some business I have to talk with my dear Honey here about. Right, sweetie?" He took her by her chin and she looked at him with her empty and sad eyes.  
  
He smiled and leaned forwards to kiss her.  
  
He kissed her gently, not rushing the process. Slowly, he attacked her lips again and again with his soft kisses.  
  
Harry, who was watching everything and couldn't do anything about it, could feel how the anger was swelling inside of him. It was poisoning him, reaching into the deepest depths of his heart...  
  
Draco kissed her again, but she didn't kiss him back.  
  
He moved his arms up to her shoulders and touched her face with his hands. The sudden gentle gesture surprised Hermione. She didn't even remember the last time he had kissed her.  
  
Oh no, she did.  
  
On the Top of the Astronomy Tower in that one magical day when everything seemed to be perfect.  
  
The thoughts about the happiness she once felt, made her softer and she parted her lips, allowing him to kiss her. He used the opportunity and kissed her more passionately now.  
  
Harry started to breathe faster and his eyes narrowed. He saw how Hermione's hand slid up his shoulder. He just wanted to literally kill Malfoy and the only thing that stopped him was the adamantine wall.  
  
"Oh, how wrong I was." Hermione thought while Draco was kissing her. "Nothing could ever be perfect. I'm only a foolish girl with my foolish little dreams."  
  
He wasn't who I thought he was.  
  
He is a killer. A Murderer. He killed his own father."  
  
Where were they now? At the Malfoy Mansion and Harry was only fifteen meters away from her. And he would die, just as she would.  
  
Bastard.  
  
She bit hard into his bottom lip and he pulled away as it started to bleed. The hatred in her eyes was like a backstabbed knife in his back. The blood started to run down his lip.  
  
"I killed him for you." He whispered. She shook her head.  
  
"No, you killed him because you wanted to." She said.  
  
Draco stared at her. "What?!" He hissed. "I killed my father because he was torturing you! Don't you understand?!"  
  
Hermione shook her head. "You could've stunned him. You didn't have to kill him. But you did it anyway."  
  
"Hermione, you don't understand." He said desperately. "He was... He wasn't a father to me. I hated him." He took a deep breath. "You want to know the truth? The truth is that he hit me. He tortured me, do you know that?"  
  
Hermione stepped back.  
  
"He even used the Cruciatus Curse on me once." Draco continued. "And he tortured my mother too, but not with the Curse. She is so damn scared of him; she doesn't even dare to step out of her room anymore. And she definitely doesn't dare to do anything about him.  
  
He wanted me to be just like him. Cruel and senseless. And he succeeded, didn't he?"  
  
He said ironically and looked at Hermione. "Just like you said back there in the dungeons. He took everything away from me. Everything. Even the one thing that gave me the hope to be good someday. You."  
  
Hermione stepped back once more. "I-I don't believe you." She shook her head. "You are lying."  
  
Harry watched the scene and growled. What was Draco trying to do with her?  
  
"Am I?" Draco approached her and took a firm grip around her shoulders. "Look into my eyes, Hermione." He whispered.  
  
His silvery, metallic eyes found her brown and locked.  
  
"Look into my eyes." He repeated. "And tell me now. Am I lying?"  
  
Hermione tried to pull herself out of his grip, but it was impossible. She looked into his eyes and she saw the terrifying truth. She couldn't hide from it. Her eyes widened, but not a word came out of her mouth. She shook her head furiously, refusing to accept it.  
  
Draco released his grip around her shoulders. There was nothing he could do to convince her.  
  
And now, now that she didn't believe him... What was there left for him?  
  
Nothing.  
  
She saw the incredible pain in his eyes, the pain he couldn't hide. Maybe he was telling the truth after all?  
  
"Run to him." He said carelessly and pointed towards Harry and the Cage.  
  
Harry looked up and saw that something was happening.  
  
Hermione hesitated for a minute. The careless tone in Draco's voice didn't fool her.  
  
Then she glanced back at Harry and the helpless expression on his face.  
  
"Let him out of there." She said to Draco, meaning the adamantine cage.  
  
Draco shrugged. "I can't and you know it. Nothing can break those walls. He stepped right into the trap, there's nothing I can do about it."  
  
"What were you supposed to do with him?" Hermione continued.  
  
"Nothing." Draco replied flatly. "He was supposed to stay there until the Dark Lord came."  
  
Hermione froze. She had forgotten about that! With panic in her eyes, she looked around.  
  
"Is he here?" She whispered while her voice was shaking. Draco was about to respond, when the red carvings on the wall started to glow in a creepy way.  
  
Harry stood up in the cage and looked worriedly around. Draco's face became cold and expressionless again.  
  
Suddenly the room started to fill with people, more precisely Death-Eaters. They surrounded the adamantine cage with lowered heads and were wearing black cowls that hid their faces. The last person that apparated into the Midnight Room was taller than the others, but was also wearing a cowl. The dark-hooded person approached the cell and didn't even seem to notice the two people that were standing at the other side of the room. He looked at Harry, who suddenly kneeled down and cached his head as if he was in great pain.  
  
Slowly, the man took of the hood and revealed his face.  
  
It was the most terrifying scene Hermione had ever seen. There was nothing except two large red eyes and two small holes in the place where a nose should've been. The mouth was thin and almost invisible.  
  
"Harry Potter." The man hissed. "So we meet again."  
  
A sharp pain shot through Harry's forehead and he screamed.  
  
Voldemort watched the boy with a slight smile on his lips and finally turned around to face his Death-Eaters. Harry started to breathe and he crawled to the other side of the cage, as far away from Voldemort as possible. Voldemort ignored him completely. His face slid over his faithful servants. McNair, Crabbe, Goyle, Avery, Nott... His gaze stopped at the empty space between Nott and the next Death- Eater. The empty space was wide enough for two people. Two Death-Eaters.  
  
"Malfoy." He said slowly. "Lucius Malfoy. And Wormtail. They should've been here by now, shouldn't they?" His cold gaze swept over the rest of the Death-Eaters and they shrugged slightly when his gaze slid over each and one of them.  
  
"Y-yes, Master." One of them whispered and lowered his head again.  
  
"Very strange behaviour from the host, isn't it?" Voldemort continued calmly. "Not showing up like this. And Wormtail should also be here by now."  
  
The rest of the room was swept in the darkness, darkness that hid Draco and Hermione from Voldemort and the Death-Eaters. She breathed and silently prayed that they wouldn't notice them. Please...  
  
Still with an expressionless face, Voldemort started to walk and the Death- Eaters broke the circle, letting him pass by. After several steps, the body of Peter Pettigrew was revealed to him. He was still lying on the ground, unconscious. Voldemort stopped and looked at him with his hands crossed behind his back.  
  
Hermione's heart started to beat faster. He was the pure evil, the Death- Angel, and she knew that she couldn't hide. Draco's face didn't reveal his emotions, but his whole body started to shiver slightly.  
  
He had never been this close to the Dark Lord.  
  
Voldemort's eyes wandered from the body on the ground to the dark corner of the room. And then he smiled.  
  
"Draco Malfoy, the son of Lucius." He whispered. "Why don't you stop hiding and say hello? And please, bring that Mudblood companion of yours."  
  
Draco gulped and stepped forwards, dragging Hermione along. Another step and he was revealed to the Dark Lord. He met his red and senseless eyes and his heart froze. 


	14. Mirror Image

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 14  
  
~Mirror Image~  
  
The Dark Lord looked at Draco with an unexplainable glint in his eyes.  
  
"You did this?" He asked and pointed towards Pettigrew's body on the floor. Draco nodded slowly.  
  
"He was pissing me off." He said simply. "I don't know how you can stand out with that butt-kissing idiot. I sure couldn't hold more than five minutes."  
  
A smile appeared in the corners of Voldemort's mouth. He didn't answer and instead, he pointed his hand towards Peter.  
  
"Ennervate." He whispered.  
  
The spell hit the man on the ground and he opened his eyes almost immediately.  
  
Slowly, he started to move while he let out a moan of pain. His back was stiff and it was aching as if it was on fire.  
  
"W-where am I?" Peter croaked. Then he saw the two black boots just a few feet away from his head.  
  
"M-master." He trembled and tried to get up. With a sudden movement, Voldemort pressed him back against the ground, putting his right foot on Peter's back.  
  
"Lie down, you miserable idiot." The Dark Lord hissed and increased the pressure on Wormtail's back. "You were outstood by Draco Malfoy! Even he has more guts than you." He spit out the words and looked at the pitiful wreck. "Lie down or I'll kill you right on the spot!"  
  
Wormtail sobbed and nodded slowly, leaning his head against the cold stone floor. Voldemort narrowed his eyes and breathed heavily. "You know what, I change my mind. One of my servants will kill you because you're not worthy to die from my hand."  
  
He hissed. "But first..." His head turned around and he looked at Draco and Hermione. "So you fulfilled your mission, Draco." He finally said and looked at Draco. "About time, I was beginning to doubt. And you brought a Mudblood with you. Is she supposed to be the sacrifice?"  
  
Draco nodded slowly and released Hermione's hand. Then he crossed her arms behind her back and coldly pushed her forwards towards Voldemort. She fell down to her knees.  
  
"Her name is Hermione Granger. She is a good friend to Harry Potter." Draco whispered.  
  
Hermione took a deep breath and looked down.  
  
The evil that was coming from the Darkest Wizards of them all was filling the room, reaching into her heart and taking a cold grip around it.  
  
Now she knew how it was to stand face to face against Death.  
  
This was the man she had been reading so much about, but she could never imagine that one day she would stand so close to him. He was evil, true, and she hated him with all her heart. But he was unstoppable and she knew it. There was nothing she could do.  
  
She wasn't even afraid even more. She knew she would die soon and there was nothing more to be afraid off.  
  
She swallowed.  
  
He looked at her with careless eyes. Why would he care? He had been killing thousands and more thousands of innocent children, woman and man, destroyed families and homes. Why would a simple Muggle-born child interest him?  
  
Her face was dirty and her hands were still bleeding. The symptoms from the Cruciatus curse were still there - she was shivering and her breath was irregular.  
  
One of his feet didn't pressure Wormtail's back anymore. He reached out his hand and touched her chin, making her look up.  
  
It was the most horrible feeling she could ever imagine, far beyond the borders of the Cruciatus Curse. It was as if an ice cube was laid against her chin. Cold.  
  
Finally she looked up and met his red, metallic eyes. The two, small and black dots in them reminded her of the eyes of a snake.  
  
Her heart turned into stone and hatred filled her body and soul. Her teeth clicked as she was forced to look down again by an incredible power.  
  
Die, she thought and shut her eyes. I want to die.  
  
  
  
He couldn't breathe. Harry couldn't breathe. The pain was killing him, tearing him apart. He could feel it in every inch of his body, especially the forehead. His fingers ran through his hear in a frantic movement and he tried to shut out the pain, not to think about it, but it was impossible. It was like a hammer that was hitting his head almost monotonously, over and over again.  
  
He couldn't scream because his voice was gone.  
  
Desperately, his hands took a grip around the silvery necklace around his neck. The silver 'H' was burning in his palm as he pressed his hand against it.  
  
His glasses were on the floor; he had probably stepped on and crushed them as he fell down to the ground. He tried to peer up and see what was going on, but his eyesight was too cloudy. He saw even worse because of the pain in his head. There were Death Eaters all around him and the adamantine cell, placed in a circle, but he couldn't see them and he didn't know.  
  
For the first time in a long time he felt helpless. And weak. Why couldn't he just finish him off right away?  
  
  
  
An almost invisible smile appeared on The Dark Lord's lips as he looked down at the Mudblood.  
  
She would be a nice sacrifice.  
  
Then his gaze slid back to the tall, blond boy.  
  
"You've done a great job." Voldemort continued and looked at Draco. There was something in his voice, something about the calm and senseless tone that made Draco suspicious. "I'm sure your father is very proud of you, isn't he?"  
  
Draco didn't even move a muscle. "He was."  
  
There was a moment of silence. The Death Eaters shot mysterious looks towards them, still standing in their positions.  
  
"He was?" Voldemort raised an eyebrow. He looked at the young boy with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Yeah." Draco nodded and waved carelessly with his wand.  
  
This was the moment of truth and horror. The red carvings in the wall started to glow even more and half of him was sweating and the other half was cold as ice.  
  
He knew that Voldemort would kill him for this. He had been killing his own parents for less. But then he realised that he wanted to be killed. He didn't have anything to live for. Here, at the end of the road, his consciousness came back to him.  
  
He killed someone. He was a murderer, just like his father. Maybe this was the only way to pay for his sins... What did he have to live for anyway?  
  
His mother?  
  
Even if his mother cared about him, he didn't know whether he could care about anything anymore.  
  
Hermione?  
  
Draco glanced at the fragile girl who was still down on her knees in front of the Dark Lord.  
  
He had been doing this to her, it was his fault. He thought he could handle the situation, that he could keep his emotions out of this and just simply give Harry away to the Dark Lord. But instead, he ended up killing his own father for the woman he once loved.  
  
And she didn't even believe him and probably hated him for everything he had done to her and Harry. So what was there to live for?  
  
Even if his father was a Death Eater and he had been considering becoming one himself when he would grow up, but now he knew that it was also an impossible alternative. Maybe Hermione hated him and so did Harry and everyone he knew. But he could never, never do what he had done again. The price was too high and he knew it already.  
  
His whole world was falling apart and all his feelings and rational thoughts had left him a long time ago.  
  
He didn't know he could feel this way. But he knew that if he would turn back the time, he wouldn't do anything else in another way. This was the only way out of this. Maybe there, on the other side, he would find peace some day. Maybe his consciousness wouldn't haunt him there anymore. Maybe...  
  
"I killed him." He said with a grin and looked upon The Dark Lord's face. "But I'm sure he enjoyed his last moments on earth."  
  
The Dark Lords face became unreadable.  
  
"So you killed him." He finally said in a low whisper. The tension was filling the room. Draco nodded. "Yes I did. And I would do it again if I would have the chance." He said, trying to control his trembling voice. "He wasn't my father. He was my worst enemy."  
  
The Dark Lord continued to look at the boy.  
  
"How foolish you are." He said. "You can't even imagine how wrong you are." He started to walk towards Draco, leaving Hermione still on her knees. "Your father wasn't your worst enemy, Draco." He continued in a calm tone. "The worst enemy you could ever have is you."  
  
Draco froze. "What do you mean?"  
  
The Darkest Wizard of All Times smiled a cold smile. "You are your worst enemy."  
  
Suddenly he pointed out his hand and Draco held his breath, thinking that Voldemort would kill him.  
  
But he didn't. Instead, he pointed his hand at an empty place a few feet away from Draco.  
  
"Draco Senaras." He whispered.  
  
A bolt of bright blue light shot out of his hand and hit the empty spot. A mist of white smoke appeared, slowly going upwards. The contours of a tall male became more and more visible. His head was lowered and he was wearing a black cowl, just like the rest of the Death Eaters and Voldemort.  
  
  
  
Harry breathed heavily as he heard a sudden noise. He looked up but all he could see was the white smoke and the dark cowls of the Death Eaters.  
  
The thought about the Death that was awaiting him was gripping his heart. He never thought he would end up like this. So weak and so helpless.  
  
Hermione wasn't showing any emotions while the thoughts were running through her head.  
  
Now when Voldemort knew that Draco had killed his own father, why didn't he kill him? What was stopping him from revenging the death of one of his trusty servants? And what was he going to do with her?  
  
Slowly, she looked up as the white smoke filled the room.  
  
The cowl wasn't hiding his face and his blond hair. The tall male looked up, straight at Draco, who swallowed.  
  
"Draco." The male finally said and didn't move an inch. He looked strangely familiar, but Draco couldn't take a grip around the thought. Who was he and why did Voldemort summon him?  
  
"Who are you?" He finally exclaimed while his heart was beating in a fast rhythm. The room and the people in it were the people that had changed his life for ever. Everything seemed to be timeless and eternal. He thought that nothing could surprise him anymore.  
  
The mal grinned, an evil grin that brought back several warm memories.  
  
"I thought you would recognize me." The male said with a smile. Draco shivered. He could feel Voldemort's eyes on his back.  
  
"Why would I recognize you?" He asked, but he already knew the answer.  
  
"Because I am you. You are me." The blond male answered. "I am the other side of you, Draco Malfoy. I am Draco Malfoy, the son of a Death Eater."  
  
Suddenly Draco regretted his thoughts about the fact that nothing could surprise him anymore. He was wrong. 


	15. The Dark Mark

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 15  
  
~The Dark Mark~  
  
"There, there, Draco." The male continued in a soft voice and smiled, but the smile didn't reach up to his eyes. An incredible coldness was coming from the tall boy, a coldness that filled the whole room. "You don't have to look so scared. I am you, after all."  
  
Draco shook his head furiously and took a step backwards. "Y-you can't be me." He exclaimed weakly and for the first time his face showed his emotions. He was scared and he was confused.  
  
"You can't be me." He repeated. The other Draco laughed, a cold and icy laughter. Hermione shrugged, Harry flinched but Voldemort and the Death Eaters didn't even move. They were like statues, statues that resembled Death and Pain.  
  
"Why can't I be you?" The boy grinned at Draco. "Don't I look like you?" He opened his arms and turned around.  
  
Draco looked at the boy. He was an exact copy of the real and arrogant Draco, from the way he stood and walked down to the raised eyebrow. He seemed a bit older though and his skin was more pale. The aristocratic face was cold and bitter and his eyes seemed to be darker, almost black. He looked as if he was from hell and the black cowl just increased the illusion.  
  
  
  
Hermione glanced up at the black-cowled male and then back at Draco and Voldemort. They didn't seem to notice anything else around them and Voldemort had an evil, sadistic glint in his eyes that made Hermione wonder what he would do with Draco when the illusion would be over. Or was it an illusion?  
  
She looked at Draco, the same boy that had saved her a month ago, saved her from what she thought would be a life full of misery and pain.  
  
She loved him. God, she had loved him.  
  
She turned her head around and looked at the cage. The Death-Eaters were standing around it, not moving an inch and poor Harry had been crawling into a corner, wrapping his arms around his legs and swaying back and forth. He didn't have his glasses on and his eyes were blinking all the time as he was trying to see.  
  
Her thoughts raced in an incredible speed while her whole body was aching and hurting from the Cruciatus Curse. What could she do? How could she help him? Against all those Death Eaters? Without a wand?  
  
She had to help him. But how?  
  
Her glance wandered back to Draco and the blond male.  
  
Would they notice her if she would.??  
  
  
  
Draco took another step backwards. "You are nothing like me." He hissed angrily. The other Draco crossed his arms and looked at the boy. "Well, try me." He said nonchalantly. "Ask me whatever you want and I'll answer your questions."  
  
Draco stopped. What kind of trick was Voldemort playing on him?  
  
"My birthday." He whispered. "Tell me about my birth."  
  
The male shrugged. "I thought you could do better." He grinned. "9th of August, 1980."  
  
The male answered. "I was born here, at the Malfoy Mansion. The day was cloudy and rainy as always and my mother almost died when she gave birth to me. She has been weak and pathetic since that day. My father, Lucius, has been learning me about the Dark Arts ever since I was a little child and that's why I was able to perform the Unforgivable Curses at the age of ten. My father has been doing his share on torturing me too, but I never told it to anyone since I was scared and afraid that people wouldn't believe me. I didn't use the Unforgivable Curses much until I was fifteen when I killed my own father as I brought the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter to the Malfoy Mansion to the Dark Lord. I killed my father because I hated him and he was torturing the woman I once thought I loved. Now, is this enough or should I continue?"  
  
Draco stared at the male. There was no way he could know about the fact that his father used the Cruciatus Curse on him because he never told it to anyone. His father wouldn't likely tell it anyone either.  
  
He looked at the tall and blond male. He saw the truth, the painful and bitter truth in his eyes. Even if the eyes were black, even if the male didn't seem to have a heart, he was still him.  
  
Draco turned around and looked at Voldemort.  
  
Only one small word escaped from his lips.  
  
"Why?"  
  
Voldemort's red eyes seemed to take over Draco's body and heart. He could literally feel the poison filling his body.  
  
The Dark Lord didn't answer and he maintained the unreadable face. The other Draco laughed.  
  
"Why?" He repeated and laughed again. Draco turned around and looked at him. The male grinned. "He's just trying to make you realise that there is no way you can escape from your destiny. You are now a Death Eater, do you know that? It's written in your stars and there's nothing you can do about it. You are the faithfull servant of the Dark Lord, the same servant who replaced Lucius Malfoy."  
  
Draco shook his head and blinked several times. The world started to get fuzzy and the contours of everyone around him faded.  
  
"No." He whispered. "I don't believe you."  
  
"Maybe you don't." The other Draco shrugged. "But I'm sure you are going to believe this."  
  
He raised his left hand and revealed the bare skin. Slowly, he stroke it with his fingers and touched the skin right below his hand, the vanes.  
  
Slowly, something black started to appear right where he touched the skin. It became more and more clearer and soon everyone could see that it was a skull with a serpent tongue.  
  
  
  
Slowly, Hermione crawled towards the Cage. None of the Death Eaters moved or noticed her; all of them looked in the direction of Voldemort, Draco and the young male.  
  
Harry looked up and saw the fuzzy contours of someone who crawled towards the Cage and then stopped.  
  
His eyes hurted everyone time he forced them to concentrate on something specific and they were hurting very much right now.  
  
His right hand gripped the silver necklace as he closed his eyes and begged for the first time in his life. He didn't beg to God because he didn't knew him nor someone else. He begged to everyone and no one. The sky, the earth, the sun and the moon. To every living creature. And he wasn't praying for himself, or at least not only himself. He was praying for his parents, Hermione, Ron, everyone he knew. Even Draco.  
  
No one deserved this. Not even the person who was responsible for this.  
  
"Please," He whispered. He couldn't find the words to explain the way he felt. All emotions of the world were running through him - angst, despair, joy, happiness, wrath. He didn't know where they came from, but they started to fill him with strength and he didn't feel that weak anymore.  
  
The necklace in his hand started to glow.  
  
  
  
Draco's eyes went wide open. He stared at the Dark Mark that was carved in the blond males bare arm.  
  
And then he felt it.  
  
The pain.  
  
The pain hit him as a bolt of lightning. It his his left arm and started to spread through his whole body. His whole arm burned as if it was on fire when he screamed and fell down to the ground.  
  
Voldemort watched the boy with an interest. Then he looked back at the other Draco. The young male nodded and lowered his head. The black cowl hid him again.  
  
With a simple wave of the Dark Lord's hand, the dark side of Draco Thomas Malfoy started to fade and soon it wasn't there anymore.  
  
Voldemort looked back at the young boy that was lying on the ground. There was something black burned inside of his left hand.  
  
It was the Dark Mark.  
  
  
  
Hermione stopped and froze as she heard the screams and the sound of a body falling down to the floor.  
  
He had killed him.  
  
She turned around and saw Draco's body on the floor. His silvery blond hair was covering his face and his eyes were closed.  
  
Her heart stopped and screamed.  
  
"NO!" She exclaimed.  
  
Suddenly she started to run towards the body that was lying on the floor and no one managed to stop her. No one seemed to want to stop her either. Voldemort watched the scene with a careless expression on his face.  
  
Everything would end soon anyway.  
  
Hermione's eyes filled with pain as she kneeled down besides Draco. She didn't even notice how the tears started to run down her face. Her body was aching like hell, but nothing mattered to her anymore.  
  
"Draco." She whispered softly and touched his cheek with her hand. It was still warm. Maybe he was still alive?  
  
Quickly, she moved her hand down to his neck and checked on his pulse.  
  
It was still there. It was very weak and it was beating slowly, but it was still there. She let out a sigh of relief as she turned his body around so that his face was upwards.  
  
He still had the expression of a terrifying pain on his face.  
  
"Oh Draco." She whispered desperately and kissed him softly on his cheek. "Forgive me." She said in a trembling voice and looked at his pale face. "Could you please forgive me? I believe you, of course I do. I was just being stubborn and. Oh God, please forgive me."  
  
Her glance wandered down from his face to his body and hands.  
  
She couldn't believe it.  
  
Her eyes widened as she saw The Dark Mark that was burned inside of his left arm.  
  
"Oh my God." She exclaimed and took his left arm with her hands, trying to get a closer look of the Dark Mark. It was there, surprisingly black on the pale, almost white skin.  
  
"What has he done to you.?" She whispered painfully and closed her eyes.  
  
No.  
  
"Aw, how touching." A cold and familiar voice said behind her. "The Mudblood Granger feeling sorry for the poor son of a Death Eater. Quite ironical, isn't it? He's after all responsible for this."  
  
Hermione gulped and looked up from Draco.  
  
"No." She whispered. "He's not the one who's responsible. You are. You and your tries to get to Harry. What do you want from him anyway? You can kill him whenever and however you want and there's nothing that can stop you. The same goes for me, Draco and everyone else." She scolded and her brown eyes glowed because of the hatred in her eyes. "Why this torture? Why do you need this for, you sad, sadistic bastard?"  
  
Voldemort looked at her with an amusement and snapped with his fingers. "Wormtail." He said calmly. The servant got up to his feet immediately and ran towards the Dark Lord.  
  
"Y-yes M-master?" He exclaimed and bowed.  
  
"Tie this young lady up, would you?" Voldemort said. "And wake up our dear friend Draco. I'm tired of playing." Then he turned his head and looked at the Cage and the Death Eaters that were around it. "It's time to get down to business." He hissed while his red eyes glowed in the darkness. 


	16. The Power of the Light

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 16  
  
~The Power of the Light~  
  
A/N: Yeah, I know, I took my sweet time with it, but. I guess I'm just getting kinda sentimental. This is going to end soon! My beautiful story is going to end soon. *sob*  
  
I've become very attached to it, you see.  
  
Okay, that small latin sentence in this chapter - don't flame me for it, I have no idea what I wrote, I just came up with it. So please don't write anything about me neglecting the bible or something, deal?  
  
  
  
Peter nodded. "Will do, Master." He trembled and reached out for his wand. He pointed it towards Hermione and a long rope shot out of it. It wrapped itself around Hermione and soon she felt like a stuffed sausage. She lost her balance and fell down to the ground, besides Draco. Soon she felt Peter's hands around her feet as he started to drag her away from Draco.  
  
With a last look on his face, Hermione closed her eyes, hoping that he would still live when she would see him the next time.  
  
Although she doubted that highly.  
  
Peter dragged Hermione about fifteen meters away from Draco and produced a simple wooden cross with the help of his wand. His movements were abrupt and nervous as he was trying to do everything as quickly as possible, wanting to please his Master. Maybe he would even spare his life.  
  
The first thing that jumped into Hermione's mind as she saw the wooden cross, was:  
  
"What a cliché." She mumbled underneath her breath. She didn't try to struggle though; she already knew how strong a wizard's rope was. By experience.  
  
Peter left her exactly where she was, beneath the wooden cross all tied up. Hermione let out a sigh and closed her eyes again.  
  
She just hoped that Draco had heard her. That was all she needed. And Harry. God, she didn't even want to think about the things they would do to him. Why did everything had to end here, in this awful and dark room? All her plans for life, everything just faded away and everything ended here. There was no tomorrow. Only the past and the present.  
  
A silent tear ran down her cheek, a tear she couldn't surpress.  
  
  
  
Draco was still unconscious as Peter returned.  
  
"Ennervate." The last named whispered and pointed his wand towards Draco.  
  
Slowly, Draco opened his eyes.  
  
Was he dead yet?  
  
The Dark Mark was still burning in the inside of his left arm, so he took that as a no.  
  
With a careless gaze, he stared at Peter's face above him. Maybe it was just a dream? Those soft lips on his cheek, the gentle fingers sliding over his body, maybe it was all just a dream?  
  
"Wake up, Sleaping Beauty." Peter said with an evil grin. "Now that you know who you are, a true Death Eater, it's time for you to serve your Master or be killed."  
  
Draco opened and closed his eyes again. Instead of one Peter, he saw two and sometimes even three. The world was fuzzy and unfocused.  
  
Did he wanted to live? Now?  
  
No.  
  
But did he have the strength to die? The courage?  
  
His heart pounded in an almost unmarkable rhythm. Nothing mattered anymore. Now he knew who he really was. He couldn't escape his destiny, his stars. He had seen the future and he knew that he didn't have the courage, the strength to take his own life. He was a coward, a pitiful coward, not better than Pettigrew.  
  
He had killed his own father to escape from his problems, lost the woman he loved and now a true symbol of Goodness in this world, The Boy Who Lived, would die. You could even say that he would die from Draco's hand because he was the one who was responsible for this. He was the one to blame.  
  
And now he didn't even have the strength to kill himself, to leave this dreadful world. Pathetic.  
  
Draco closed his eyes.  
  
Then he heard the same ironical and cold voice again.  
  
"Well, what is it going to be?" Peter interrupted the thread of Draco's thoughts. Draco took a deep breath and opened his eyes.  
  
"I solemny swear," he whispered. "That I will lead and follow my Master, Lord Voldemort, into Death if it will be needed and fulfil his every wish and command. I will commit the seven sins and I will stay faithful to my Master until I die and after that. Serpent Dominus Cerius Est."  
  
The Dark Mark in his arms slowly became fuller and got the shade of dark green. The Serpent Tongue moved a bit and then froze again.  
  
Voldemort looked at the boy with the same unreadable face expression as always.  
  
"You will replace the Death Eater you killed." He hissed and grabbed Draco, wrenching him up to his feet. "Your father, Lucius Malfoy." The Dark Lord brought his hand to Draco's eyes and swept it over his face.  
  
Draco's face became just as unreadable as Voldemort's and his eyes weren't in the colour of silvery steel anymore; they were black as the night.  
  
As he looked down he saw that now he wore a black cowl, just like all the other Death Eaters and Voldemort.  
  
He looked up again and med Voldemort's red eyes. This time they didn't scare him anymore. Now he didn't feel anything at all, all the emotions had left him with the bows of a Death Eater who swore his dedication to the Dark Lord.  
  
There were no regrets. No wishes, nothing at all.  
  
Just the emptiness and the Dark Mark on his left arm.  
  
"Now come with me." Voldemort said, looked at Draco and ignored Peter completely.  
  
Draco nodded slowly. "Yes, Master," he whispered.  
  
  
  
The emotions were taking over Harry, reaching into his heart and filling his whole body. He could hear screams, cries, people who were laughing.  
  
What was happening to him?  
  
His grip around the necklace tightened and he closed his eyes. He didn't even notice the strange glow that was coming out of the previously mentioned item. All he could feel were the feelings of the whole world running through him.  
  
It didn't happen right away. At first, the only thing he felt was cold. The cold that seemed to come from the Death Eaters. Then he could feel Hermione's fear and sorrow. Peter's fear towards Voldemort. Draco's emptiness.  
  
But he couldn't feel anything that could come from Voldemort.  
  
What was happening?  
  
Suddenly, he heard a male voice in his head.  
  
"We will protect you, my son." The male voice whispered in a soft tone. "We will guide you through your problems, always. All you have to do is believe. We may be gone, but the Medal of Sun is with you. Remember, my son. Always."  
  
The necklace started to glow even more and suddenly it became so hot, Harry was forced to drop it down to the ground. He opened his eyes and saw the bright light that was coming from the necklace. The light was shining up the Cage, revealing the exact position of the almost invisible walls.  
  
Further on, the light reached out and shined up the black cowls of the Death Eaters.  
  
Not until then they looked up at Harry and he saw the surprise in their eyes.  
  
Slowly, they started to step backwards, one by one.  
  
Why?  
  
Harry couldn't understand.  
  
"M-Master." One of them whispered while his eyes were still fixed on Harry and the bright light that was coming from the necklace. The light was also shining up Harry's tired face.  
  
Voldemort, who had just turned around to walk to the Cage, froze in his way. Draco followed his gaze and for the first time in a long time, he looked at Harry Potter. There was a bright oreol of light around Harry, a light that blended Draco, Voldemort and the rest of the people in the room.  
  
Draco's heart leaped and he took several steps forwards, side-stepping some Death Eaters that were moving in the opposite direction.  
  
Could this be true?  
  
Behind Harry, in the bright light, there were contours of two people. A woman and a male. The woman had brilliant red hair and the male had black hair. He was an exact copy of Harry, the only thing that separated them was that the male didn't have glasses. Both the woman and the man were dressed in white, shining dresses.  
  
Their contours and images were fading a bit now and then and every time Draco looked at them, his eyes hurt and he had to cover them up with his hands.  
  
The pain in his left arm increased suddenly and he let out a moan of pain.  
  
Hermione, who was silently praying, looked up at the white light blended her together with the rest of the people inside of the room. She saw the incredibly bright light coming from the other side of the room and her eyes widened as she saw that the light was coming from the adamantine Cage. The light around Harry was so strong that it was impossible to look at it.  
  
Harry didn't even notice that there was someone standing behind him. He thought that he felt someone's hand on his shoulder, but his body wouldn't listen to his commands and he didn't turn around.  
  
Everyone stared at Harry but Harry was only looking at one person.  
  
Draco.  
  
As soon as he met his gaze, the bright white light increased. The light from the necklace was shining up the walls now more than ever, filling the Cage with a strong, ultraviolet light.  
  
Harry's ears locked as he heard a strange noise.  
  
Suddenly there was a big BOOM and the Walls of the Unbreakable Adamantine Cage exploded.  
  
The explosion was big enough to blast a person into pieces. The powerful and ancient magic of the cage was protesting slightly as the strong light of the Medal surrounded it. Soon, it didn't have the strength to hold it back anymore and the Adamantine Cage exploded.  
  
The most of the Death Eaters fell backwards by the strength of the explosion and covered their faces with their hands, letting out painful screams as the blood started to run down their faces.  
  
Only Draco and Voldemort were still standing up.  
  
Voldemort stared at the left-overs of the Cage Magic. The Cage that was supposed to be Unbreakable.  
  
Then his glance wandered back to a simple, scrawny boy that was still standing up. The light was still shining around him, but the image of the couple behind him faded slightly. Harry was still standing up. Slowly, he bent down and picked up the necklace from the ground. It was still warm as placed it around his neck again.  
  
He looked up.  
  
He was free.  
  
He didn't know how, but he knew that he had his parents to thank him.  
  
And he wouldn't let them down.  
  
He looked from Voldemort to Draco.  
  
Draco. Traitor.  
  
Harry's glance continued to wander to the wooden cross that was now covered in blood a bit further away with a tiny, fragile body beneath it.  
  
Hermione.  
  
Finally, he spoke.  
  
"Let her go." He said calmly and looked at Voldemort. "Or I'll kill you." 


	17. Painful Truth

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 17  
  
~Painful Truth~  
  
A/N: Sorry about taking so long guys. I was just taking a break. And this is a part of the story where you have to think a lot and consider the consequences. I just hesitated a bit too long. But here it is right now - the seventeenth chapter of "Gryffindor vs. Slytherin".  
  
  
  
Hermione opened and closed her eyes several times. She had lost all the sense of time a long time ago. She didn't know what was happening, the only thing she knew was that she was still alive. She could hear someone screaming, but she didn't know who it was. What if it was Harry? Or Draco?  
  
Draco.  
  
God, she hoped that he heard her. She hoped that he would believe her. If she would die, she wanted him to know. She wanted him to know that she forgave him. With her whole heart, she forgave him. For everything. For the killings. For the capturing of Harry. She forgave him for everything. She understood him. He was just a lost soul, controlled by his father his whole life. And now he was controlled by Voldemort.  
  
He was never free.  
  
But she forgave him. She didn't know why, but she felt that it was important that he knew that. God, she hoped he would.  
  
  
  
Voldemort stared at Harry for a while and his red eyes filled with hatred. Draco's face, on the other hand, revealed the feelings his felt.  
  
Harry was free. How could he do that?  
  
It was impossible. The Adamantine Cage was supposed to be unbreakable. How could Harry break it?  
  
And what should he do now? It was too late to change his mind. He was a Death Eater and the dark, poisoning magic from the Dark Mark on his left arm was already filling his body. Such feelings as fear or love started to disappear and they got replaced with hatred and wrath.  
  
Was this also the way his father had felt every day? Every time he had looked at Draco and smirked? Or when he had hit his own wife? Or tortured Draco?  
  
Draco's eyes became more and more black for every second and his face paled.  
  
The regrets about his father death were gone.  
  
He was glad he killed him. He was only destroying his life, wasn't he? And now he was gone.  
  
Draco's black, unfocused eyes wandered from Voldemort to Harry. The silvery necklace was still shining around his neck and every time Draco looked at it, a sharp pain shot through his left arm.  
  
You could slice the tension in the room with a knife.  
  
The Death Eaters were lying all around them, apparently unconscious.  
  
Finally, Harry spoke again.  
  
"Release her," he repeated and nodded towards Hermione. Voldemort grinned.  
  
"I think I've been playing with you for too long, I'm getting bored," he hissed and pointed his hand towards Harry. "It's time to get this over with. I've wanted to kill you for a long time."  
  
Harry looked at Voldemort. "Why?", he whispered. Voldemort shrugged.  
  
"You stand for everything I hate. All the meaningless, pathetic people that once tried to 'save' me. And even now, when I can touch you and you can't harm me, I want you dead," the familiar, cold and evil glint appeared in his eyes. "Besides, you destroyed one of my favourite magical items, the Cage. I've killed people for less. Now, I don't care how you managed to do it, so spare it, would you? Goodbye, Harry Potter," he whispered. "The Boy Who Finally Died. Avada Kedavra!"  
  
Harry touched authomatically the necklace with his right hand.  
  
He was prepared to die. Die, just like his father, trying to protect the one he loved. And then something weird happened.  
  
As the green bolt of light shot out of Voldemort's wand and raced towards Harry, the last named saw everything happening in slow motion.  
  
The necklace in his hands started to burn again and a bright bolt of light shot out of it just as Voldemort exclaimed the words that usually brought death to the one they were adressed to. The light from Harry's necklace met the Avada Kedavra spell in the mid-air. And the both of them disappeared as if they had never existed.  
  
Voldemort's face muscle moved and his gaze wandered over to the necklace in Harry's hand. There was a strange glint in Draco's eyes that resembled joy. A sharp pain shot through Draco's left arm, but he tried to ignore it.  
  
So Harry could protect himself from Voldemort again. How ironical. The Boy Who Lived could protect himself from the evil, but he couldn't. He thought that he would be so strong. And here he was, standing right besides the Dark Lord, awaiting a battle between the two powers again.  
  
Voldemort's eyes narrowed.  
  
"So you've found another way to protect yourself from me, Harry Potter?", he said in a low voice. "Did that old git Dumbledore helped you this time? And for how long time exactly do you expect that you'll be able to hide from me behind all those magical spells and items you possess?", he hissed.  
  
There was a time in Harry's life where he would've been afraid now. He would've been scared to death.  
  
But not anymore.  
  
Now he was here and he fought for the one he loved. Nothing else mattered, no consequences or regrets bothered him. His parents blessing was still with them, but it had changed. Voldemort could touch Harry now, there was no doubt about that. But Harry was still protected with the help of the necklace. He felt how it connected him with a special power and right now that power was running through his whole body. He felt great, powerful. He could do anything.  
  
"Listen to me carefully now, Voldemort," Harry hissed and slowly started to walk towards the Dark Lord and Draco. "I think you've gotten something wrong here. Would you look around you?", he pointed towards all the Death Eaters that were lying on the floor. "They can't help you," he continued in a hiss and his gaze was filled with hatred and determination. "And you can't kill me."  
  
Voldemort looked at the boy. "You're right, they can't," he said and put his hands together. "But I really doubt I'd need them to take that necklace away from you," he continued and his red eyes wandered across the last named item. "That's the only thing that protects you from me, isn't it? I can feel the Good Magic in it."  
  
Harry swallowed. "Maybe it is," he replied and took another step towards Voldemort, standing face to face against him now.  
  
The sharp paind didn't leave Draco's arm, in fact, it increased. There was something about that necklace, something that made the Dark Mark react on it and hurt. Even Voldemort felt it now as he took a step backwards.  
  
"What the hell is that?", he pointed a bony finger towards the necklace. "It's not only filled with Good Magic, it's-"  
  
The necklace in Harry's hands started to glow even more and filled the room with incredible light once again.  
  
"I got it from my parents," Harry hissed and pointed the necklace towards Voldemort's face. "And it is going to protect me and every living being from you and your servants." Voldemort's eyes widened as he took another step backwards. He blocked his face with his hands because the light was beginning to get unbearable.  
  
He thought that he was unable to feel pain. He thought that nothing could hurt him anymore and especially not a necklace. And here he was now, while an incredible pain shot through his body. There was no other choice. He only had two options: Surrender or Die.  
  
He thought he was immortal.  
  
Voldemort let out a roar of pain.  
  
There was no other choice.  
  
"We'll meet again, Harry Potter!" His terrifying scream filled the Midnight Room as he disappeared. The rest of the Death Eaters that were starting to wake up, disappeared along with him as they saw that their Master was leaving.  
  
Soon there were only three people left in the room.  
  
There was a moment of painful silence.  
  
Harry stared blankly at the spot where Voldemort was just a minute ago.  
  
And now he was gone.  
  
How did he succeed?  
  
Then he stared at the necklace in his hands.  
  
"Thank you," he whispered to no one.  
  
Draco stared at the same spot with absolutely no emotions in his face. His Master had left him to die. He should feel bad, shouldn't he? Now he would die, after going through several humiliations, he would die.  
  
He even surprised himself as he let out a sigh of relief.  
  
So he wouldn't have to live with the guilt. He would be released from the Dark Mark and all its responsibilities. He wouldn't need to look at Hermione and see the hatred in her eyes.  
  
Harry Potter would kill him. So what?  
  
Finally, Harry looked up at the lonely, black-cowled figure that was standing a bit further away and Hermione's almost lifeless body on the other side of the room. With everything happening around him, he had almost forgotten that it wasn't over yet. Even if Voldemort was gone. The Dark Lord was defeated, but he would come again, Harry was sure of that. He just hoped that the necklace would protect him the next time too.  
  
Harry gazed at Draco and stuffed the necklace back into his pocket. This was a battle he would fight with his own powers. If he only had a wand.  
  
Draco met Harry's gaze and smirked.  
  
"Potter", he said calmly. "So here we are."  
  
And there they were.  
  
The room seemed to darken again and even the air held its breath.  
  
  
  
"You bastard," Harry finally hissed. "Do you know what you've done?"  
  
Draco remained silent.  
  
Harry paused. "You Malfoys, you only care about yourself and no one else, but I didn't think that you could get this far. You used Hermione and lots of other people just to get to me. You didn't care about what it would take, you did it anyways. And now that your Master is gone, I'm sure you're going to run to your father-"  
  
"My father is dead," Draco interrupted him. "I killed him."  
  
Harry stared at him.  
  
So Draco had gone further than he could ever imagine. Now he was a killer.  
  
Harry took a step backwards.  
  
"You killed him?", he repeated. Draco nodded.  
  
"Yes I did. And I would do it again if needed. You have no idea what he has done to me. But you really don't care about that, now do you?", he grinned coldly. "All you can think about right now is that I'm a crazy, killing Death Eater and that you have to get Hermione and yourself out of here as soon as possible, am I right?"  
  
"You can't blame me for that," Harry said and stopped. Draco shrugged.  
  
"You're right, I can't," he said flatly. "But you know what? I'll make things much more easier for you." He reached for something in his cowl and tossed it to Harry who cached it.  
  
It was his wand.  
  
Harry stared at the new item in his hands.  
  
"Why are you giving this to me?", he looked at Draco.  
  
"So that you know that I will not harm you two," Draco answered. "I would ask you to kill me, but I know that that's something you couldn't do, even if you scared Voldemort with that little necklace of yours. So take her-" he nodded towards Hermione. "And get the hell out of here. You can't hurt me and I can't hurt you. It's a loosing situation for the both of us. So get out of here and leave me alone.", he finished while his black eyes didn't reveal any of his emotions. He looked like a tall, beautiful demon with his silvery blond hair and black eyes.  
  
Harry was confused. He didn't think that things would be this easy. He knew that he should start to run towards Hermione, release her and get out of here just like Draco said, but something stopped him from doing these things. Something in Draco's voice. It was as if Draco had given up.  
  
"Why are you letting us go?", he asked with surprise in his voice. "I thought you wanted to kill us."  
  
Draco grinned. "I hope that's not an offer, Potter.", he said dryly and watched how Harry paled. "I'm letting you go, okay?. I thought you would bounce up and down the walls when you would hear the news."  
  
Harry didn't know whether he should laugh or say something nasty, so he decided to ask another question.  
  
"What are you going to do?", he asked Draco. The last named shrugged.  
  
"That's none of your damn business, Potter," he said coldly and crossed his arms over his chest. "Now get the hell out of my House and close the door behind you, will you?," he finished, turned around and walked out of the Midnight Room, leaving Harry with his jaw wide open.  
  
What the hell just happened here? 


	18. Connection

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 18  
  
~Connection~  
  
Draco closed the door behind him, leaned against it and took a deep breath.  
  
So now it was over.  
  
He was all alone. The silence was all around him.  
  
He wanted to live, but he had failed. He wanted to die, but he had failed there too. He was a Death Eater without his Master. What would he do now? What could he do?  
  
He could return to Voldemort. He could. But he didn't want to. Now when the Dark Lord wasn't around him, his mind felt more free, even if he didn't know what to do. He was still chained.  
  
At least he had the strength to let the both of them go. At least he didn't make another mistake in his life. Even if that didn't change anything, he was still glad he didn't kill him.  
  
But he could never kill Hermione. Never. Even if she hated him.  
  
He folded up the black material and stared at his left arm, hoping that maybe, just maybe, it was only a dream. Maybe.  
  
The Dark Mark was still there, as black as ever, almost taunting him.  
  
God, he wished that someone could release him from his angst. How could he ever live with this torturing pain?  
  
His black eyes got a familiar shade of grey.  
  
He had to, he had no other choice.  
  
Slowly he started to walk. If any servants were still around, Where to? He couldn't return to Hogwarts, that was for sure. There was nothing that kept him there. But what was keeping him here?  
  
  
  
Harry stood still for a minute.  
  
Why did he let them go?  
  
But he didn't have the time to think about that.  
  
Hermione. He had to hurry.  
  
Still gripping Draco's wand in his hand, he looked back at the door for the last time, turned around and ran towards Hermione who was still lying on the ground with the wooden cross behind her.  
  
"Hermione!", Harry exclaimed softly as he kneeled down besides her. Slowly, she opened her eyes.  
  
"Draco?", she whispered.  
  
Harry's smile faded. "No, Herm, it's me, Harry," he finally said as he started to work on the spell that tied her hands to the cross.  
  
Hermione's vision got more and more clearer and finally she saw who was talking to her.  
  
"Harry!", she gasped while Harry waved with Draco's wand and undid the spell. Hermione put her aching arms down and tried to stand up, still looking at Harry with an amazed glint in her eyes. "You're alive!", she finally exclaimed with disbelief in her voice. "How.?"  
  
Harry shrugged slightly. "I had my parents to thank. It's a long story, I'll tell you when we get out of here. Can you walk?"  
  
Hermione nodded and took several unsteady steps. Her whole body ached like hell and her back was on fire. "I can walk, but that's just about it," she said and even managed to perform a weak smile. Suddenly she remembered something and looked worriedly around. "You're alive.", she said slowly and gulped while she felt really weak again and the only thing she could hear was her pounding heart. "That must mean that Draco-"  
  
"He's alive," Harry interrupted her. "Voldemort disappeared but Draco didn't. He let me go - he was even kind enough and gave me his wand before he walked out of the Midnight Room as if the seven devils were after him."  
  
Hermione stared at him. "You're kidding with me, right?"  
  
"Nope," Harry shook his head. "But could we please talk about this when we get back to Hogwarts because right now we're in the middle of a demonic sacrifice room and-"  
  
"Where did he go?", Hermione asked him with a desperate tone in her voice. Harry looked at her and sighed.  
  
"Look, Hermione, you don't know what you're getting yourself into and you're repeating the same mistake you did a month ago. He's not who you think he is, he's now a Death Eater and he even killed his own father. Now, could we please-"  
  
Suddenly he realised that he was talking to the thin air because Hermione was already on her way out of the room. Harry sighed again, mumbled something about being ungrateful and sat after her with his black, torn Hogwarts robes fluttering behind him.  
  
  
  
Draco startled down the stairs when a familiar voice behind his back made him stop.  
  
"Draco!", Hermione yelled and ran towards him. Draco turned around with an expressionless face and crossed his arms as Hermione stopped.  
  
"What do you want?", he spat. "Didn't I tell your boyfriend just a second ago that you should get out of here as soon as possible?"  
  
Hermione glared at him, not believing what he said. "First of all, he's not my boyfriend because I love you and second, I'm not getting out of here before I can tell you that. I believe you."  
  
Silence.  
  
"You what?" Draco repeated.  
  
"I told you already when you were lying back there, but apparently you didn't hear me," she continued. "I told you that I believed you, everything you ever said, about your father hurting you, your mother being too afraid to do anything, your fear. Everything. I believe you and I still love you and want to believe you, despite everything that has happened," she finished and looked at him. "I just thought you ought to know before you went completely ballistic," she said. "Now if you excuse me.," she turned around and was about to walk away, when Draco's hand on her shoulder stopped her.  
  
"Wait," he whispered and made her turn around. She looked into his black eyes that were slowly turning into grey again. "You don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Oh, I'm afraid she does," Harry's voice reached Draco and Hermione and the both of them turned around. "That's the scary part."  
  
Harry stood a few meters away from them and Hermione was surprised as always how he could look like this after everything he had been going through these last couple of days. He looked so calm. The only thing that revealed his emotions was the way he was gripping Draco's wand; his fingers were completely white and the point of the wand trembled slightly.  
  
"What?," Draco hissed angrily and looked at both of them. "Is this the Sankt Potter Day and they forgot to warn me? Hey, I know that thinking is something you usually can't do Potter, but please, could you just make an exception? Get the hell out of my house, both of you!"  
  
Hermione looked at Draco with her scared eyes wide open. "But Draco-"  
  
"Just shut up," Draco interrupted and took several steps backwards, away from her and Harry. The pain in his left arm returned and started to torture him again. Was that necklace doing this? "You have no idea what you are talking about, Granger. You love me? Ha!," he said sarcastically. "You just don't know what you want. But there's one thing I can tell you - you certainly don't want me, not the way I am right now," he finished. "Now I don't care whether Potter is your boyfriend or not, just please, go away. Leave me alone. That isn't too much to ask is it? Considering the fact that I actually still live here."  
  
There was a moment of silence.  
  
"Fine," Hermione said finally and the line of her mouth became very thin. "I thought you knew better," she hissed, turned around and walked over to Harry.  
  
Harry was still looking at Draco and didn't even look at Hermione as she walked over to him.  
  
"She loves you, you idiot," Harry finally exclaimed with disbelief. "After all you've done to her, she still loves you. How don't you get it?"  
  
Draco's eyes searched franticly through the hallway, trying to avoid Hermione's burning eyes.  
  
"You could never understand, Potter," Draco finally said. "And besides, aren't you in love with Hermione?"  
  
If Draco would've asked the same question a few days ago, Harry would've blushed like a beet. But now, his face was still calm and concentrated.  
  
"I am," he answered calmly and now he avoided Hermione's gaze too. "But I know that she's in still in love with you, after all you've done. Even if I think that's very foolish of her. And now I've proved my point, it is very foolish of her. You could never love her the way she does, you were just using her from the beginning."  
  
"Oh, now when Sankt Potter has made the Boogey Man Voldemort go away for a while, he's going to play a Matchmaker, how cute," Draco grit his teeth while he brought his right hand to his left arm, as if trying to suffacate the pain that was still increasing. His face muscles hid the pain with hatred "But that's besides the point. You speak of what you do not know Potter, so stop trying; you're failing miserably."  
  
Harry gripped Draco's wand even tighter. "Hermione," he said slowly, still not looking at the girl and keeping his eyes on Draco. "I'd say you made a really big mistake when you fell in love with him."  
  
Hermione looked from Harry back to Draco.  
  
"Just stop it, the both of you," she finally said and sighed. "Draco, I love you, but I can see that you don't return my feelings. We'll leave immediately."  
  
She then walked towards Draco, walking past him and starting to walk down the stairs.  
  
A silent tear ran down her cheek.  
  
Harry stared at Draco for a moment.  
  
"You idiot," he repeated and started to follow Hermione.  
  
As Harry came closer, Draco's face muscles flinched and the pain was becoming unbearable. Now the pain was spreading itself from the left arm to the rest of his body and soon his whole body was on fire. Why did it hurt so damn much? What the hell was that necklace?  
  
Just as Harry walked past him, Draco couldn't hide the pain anymore and fell down to his haunches. He let out a grunt of pain as he held his left arm up and saw how the Dark Mark was more black than ever. The pain was killing him.  
  
Harry froze in his steps and so did Hermione who was on her way down the stairs already.  
  
"Malfoy?," Harry raised an eyebrow as he looked at the black-cowled figure who was now down on his knees. "What's the matter with you?"  
  
"Draco?," he could hear Hermione's voice in the background.  
  
Draco closed his eyes and made a grimace that was filled with pain. "Stay away from me," he exclaimed as Harry took several steps towards him.  
  
"You need help?," Harry asked in a worried tone. Even if he hated Malfoy, he saw his pain and knew that for some reason there was something he had to do. Draco moved away, now in a crawling position.  
  
"I said: Stay away," he breathed as his eyes filled with tears because of the pain. "You're killing me. The necklace is killing me."  
  
"The necklace?," Harry repeated slowly and reached for the necklace in his pocket. Draco's pain increased even more and he thought that his body would explode.  
  
"TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME!," he screamed, but it was already too late. Harry was already holding the necklace in his hands. It started to burn again, with the same familiar light. It seemed to concentrate on Draco's left arm and became almost incredibly bright and white.  
  
Hermione, who had approached Harry, stared at Draco who wrenched in the pain and at the necklace.  
  
"Take it away!," she yelled to Harry.  
  
Harry wanted to set it back into his pocket, but the medal seemed to have gained a life of its own now. There was no way to control it.  
  
The light continued to shine on Draco's left arm and he screamed again.  
  
So he would die. He would die from the hand of Harry Potter after all.  
  
He closed his eyes and embraced the pain that was something beyond his wildest imagination.  
  
Any minute now. Any minute now.  
  
His heart pounded in a slow rhythm and he didn't hear his screams anymore.  
  
And then.  
  
  
  
It stopped. The pain stopped.  
  
Draco looked at his left arm with an astonished gaze.  
  
The Dark Mark wasn't there anymore. It was gone.  
  
The necklace slipped out of Harry's fingers. 


	19. A Farewell

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Chapter 19  
  
~A Farewell~  
  
The black cowl disappeared and now he had his ordinary clothes. Draco took a deep breath, trying to understand what just happened.  
  
"It's gone," Draco whispered and continued to stare at his arm that was now Dark Mark-free. "The Dark Mark is gone," he looked up at Harry while his eyes regained their natural colour - silver. Slowly, he started to smile again.  
  
"How did you do it?," he asked Harry while he stood up. Harry just shook his head and stared at Draco.  
  
"I don't know," he finally said. "I didn't do it. It was the necklace," he nodded towards the necklace on the floor and then looked up again. "Don't you feel the pain anymore?"  
  
Draco shook his head slowly, kneeled down and carefully touched the necklace with his trembling fingertips, as if he was afraid that they would be burned as he would touch the medal.  
  
Nothing happened as he touched it. The necklace was now cool and showed no signs of any special magical powers. It was just a simple necklace.  
  
Then, Hermione spoke for the first time.  
  
"I-I think I know what that is," she said and pointed at the necklace. "It's a Reverse Spell Necklace. It's filled with Good Power and every time it gets near a Death Eater, it starts to glow and concentrated its power on the Dark Mark, the source of the evil, finally making it disappear," she started to sound like her usual know-it-all again. "Although there aren't many wizards and witches who usually survive that procedure," she glanced at Draco. "They are ancient, very, very powerful and they were used hundreds, maybe even thousands of years ago against all evil forces. I don't know how you got it Harry, but you'd better throw or give it away."  
  
"What do you mean?," Harry asked and raised an eyebrow. "Why would want to throw away something my mother gave me?"  
  
Both Hermione and Draco stared at him.  
  
"I know you said that to Voldemort back there, but I just thought you were kidding, maybe trying to scare Voldemort or something" Draco said slowly, took the necklace in his hands, stood up and looked at Harry as if he was a lunitic. Harry shook his head.  
  
"I didn't lie," he whispered and looked mostly at Hermione who had a sad glint in her eyes as she kept her eyes on Harry. "It's the truth. It's just a. Very long story. I'll tell you everything when we'll return to Hogwarts. Speaking of Hogwarts, could we leave now?"  
  
Hermione nodded. "I guess we can," she whispered softly. "I just wanted to add that you should better give the necklace away since it is working like a magnet for dark magic. Everyone who's evil and who is near it, can sense it. Harry, I advice you not to keep it," she looked at him hopefully, waiting for him to agree.  
  
Harry's eyes were unreadable. "Thanks for the advice, Herm," he nodded.  
  
Hermione shrugged. "I'll wait for you outside," she said and without even looking at Draco once, she turned around and walked back down the stairs. Both Draco and Harry followed her with their gazes and continued to look until she disappeared out of their sight. Draco then gave the necklace back to Harry who sighed and looked at it and then back at Draco.  
  
"I still don't understand why you just can't accept the fact that she loves you-"  
  
"Just stop it Potter, right there, right now," Draco interrupted him and then looked down on his hands. "I have my reasons."  
  
"Tell me."  
  
"Tell you? You're kidding, right?," Draco looked up. "What, are you going to play my mother now?"  
  
"You don't know what a mother is, Malfoy," Harry answered, a bit more angrily than he intended to. Draco let out a dry laugh.  
  
"Oh, that was low Potter, really low. I didn't expect you to go that low. Now, could we just end this discussion? And it would be very nice if you could leave once and for all-"  
  
"Aren't you going to thank me before I leave?," Harry glared at Draco.  
  
"Thank you?," Draco repeated, being slightly pissed off because Harry interrupted his insulting speech.  
  
"Yeah, just for something as simple as saving you from a goddamn cursed life as a doomed Death Eater," Harry hissed. "I just thought that a nice 'Thank you very much' would fit in just great, don't you agree?"  
  
Draco crossed his arms over his chest and raised his head. Even if he did indeed owe Harry his life, that didn't mean that he would begin to be nice to him. "Thank you very much," Draco said with a stiff tongue, as if he had major problems of saying those simple words. "Although I think we're quite eaven now, aren't we? I let you go and you saved my life. We're eaven."  
  
Harry nodded slowly and looked at Draco with an unreadable face expression. "Yes we are," he finally exclaimed. Then he looked at Draco's wand in his hands, looked up and threw it towards its thruthful owner. Draco cached it with his right hand.  
  
"Thanks for letting me borrow it," Harry said. Draco twirled the wand in his hands and looked at it for a moment as if it contained all the Wonders of the World.  
  
"You're welcome," he said. "Although I won't need it anymore." The wand disappeared out of his hands with a small 'poof'.  
  
"You won't?," Harry looked at him carefully. "What are you going to do now?"  
  
Draco shrugged and looked away. "I don't know," he said simply. "Get out of here, I guess. For the first time in my whole life, I'm free and I can do whatever I want. Who knows, maybe I'll even go to Egypt."  
  
"Egypt?," Harry said in a surprised tone. "What would you want to do in Egypt?"  
  
"Well, I've heard it's a nice country, good climate and all. What the hell do you think I'm going to do, Potter?!," Draco said in a irritated tone and looked at Harry as if he was a pile of smelly garbage. That look reminded Harry a lot about the way the Dursley's ususally looked at him. "I'm going to get away from here, as far away from here as possible in fact. Egypt is a nice option."  
  
"Well, what about Hogwarts?," Harry asked again. He didn't even notice that he was sounding as if he was trying to find a reason for Draco to. Stay.  
  
"There's nothing keeping me at Hogwarts. I already know the most of the spells they teach you there and for those who I don't know. Well, they are useless to me."  
  
"What about. Voldemort? Don't you think he will try to find you, hunt you down?"  
  
"Maybe," Draco said. "But I won't make it easy for him. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.," he smiled slightly, put his hands together and brought them to his face.  
  
"Now, Potter, this might surprise you a bit, but I'm going to ask you for a favor," he said.  
  
Harry's eyes widened. "A favor? From me? What kind of favor?"  
  
Draco paused. This was really hard for him to say, but right now he had no one else to turn to. He would surely regret this sooner or later, but he didn't have the time to worry about that right now.  
  
"I want you to. Take good care of Hermione," he finally exclaimed in a whisper. "You love her and I'm sure you will. But I want you to do something specific," he whispered and looked out through the window of the hall. The day was starting to brighten up.  
  
Harry nodded slowly.  
  
"Sure, just tell me what," he said assuringly.  
  
Draco turned his head and looked at Harry.  
  
"Take her to the top of the Astronomy Tower now and then. I'm sure she's going to appreciate that," he said in a low whisper while his eyes, for the first time, reflected the pain he felt inside.  
  
Harry wanted to ask more questions, but he knew that this was neither the time or the place for them. There was nothing more to say.  
  
"I will," Harry said and walked a few steps towards the window, not looking at Draco. "And I'm not asking any more questions."  
  
"Thanks," Draco whispered behind his back. "I appreciate that."  
  
Harry nodded and touched the surface of the window with his fingertips. Then he took a deep breath.  
  
"Look, Draco, are you sure about leaving because I still think-" Harry turned around, wanting to face Draco.  
  
But the hallway was empty and there was no one there anymore. A strange feeling you usually get in the presence of a ghost surrounded Harry and he shrugged.  
  
Draco was gone.  
  
***  
  
Hermione leaned against the door that led from the Malfoy Mansion and looked out into the beautiful nature. The sun was about to go down and every little leaf and stone had a light, golden shimmer around it.  
  
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.  
  
She was free now. Out of the demonic room, she was free and all she had to do was to wait for Harry, then they would get out of here and never look back.  
  
But somehow, she realised that her heart had never been as heavy as it was right now.  
  
It was over. Everything was over.  
  
She opened her eyes.  
  
No, she was wrong.  
  
Everything was just starting, this was just the beginning. All she had to do was to forget about Draco and everything about him. He wasn't hers any more. Probably he had never been hers anyway.  
  
"Hermione."  
  
Hermione turned her head and her brown eyes met Harry's green.  
  
"Hi," she smiled softly and wiped away the tears that started appear in the corners of her eyes.  
  
She didn't have the time for this. She would never have the time for this anymore. Harry looked at her and his eyes filled with sadness.  
  
"Herm.," he sighed and lowered his head. "I know that there are lots of things we need to talk about and sort out. But. Until then. Could I just be your friend?," he said in a hopeful whisper and looked up.  
  
Hermione looked at him and finally she couldn't hold it anymore. The tears started to run down her face and there was no way she could stop them. Her breath became irregular and turned into abrupt sniffs. She lowered her head and tried to hide it in her hands. Harry didn't hesitate for a moment.  
  
"Oh, Herm.," he whispered softly and pulled her closer to him. She rested her head on his shoulders and cried her whole heart out, all her sorrow and pain.  
  
"Cry, cry, that's what this shoulder is here for," Harry whispered and ran a hand through her hair.  
  
And she cried, whispering feverish, nonsense words at the same time while Harry nodded in agreement and whispered back, trying to calm her down.  
  
They stood in the opening of the Malfoy Mansion until the sun went down, the warm wind started to blow slightly and the round, yellow moon and the stars lit up the dark sky. Then the both of them started to walk. She leaned against him as they walked and even if he was just as weak as she was, he helped her to stand up. The both of them walked out of the Malfoy Grounds and down the road that led to the closest village.  
  
They didn't look back.  
  
***  
  
Draco took a deep breath and opened the door to her room.  
  
"Mother," he whispered and looked into the darkness.  
  
There was no answer.  
  
Slowly, he stepped into the room and approached the large, almost royal looking bed.  
  
The sheets were untidy and the blanket was on the grounds.  
  
He turned around and looked at the bathroom door. There was a narrow opening and he saw some light coming from the room.  
  
His heart beat worriedly, he knew that something wasn't right.  
  
"Mother?" Draco hurried himself towards the door, opened it and looked inside.  
  
The small and thin figure of Draco's mother, Narcissa Malfoy was lying on the floor. Her beautiful, blond hair was laid down her shoulders as if she was a princess who was in a bewitched sleep. Her aristocratic face was completely white.  
  
Draco had seen a face like that before.  
  
She looked exactly like his father when he was lying on the ground in the dungeons.  
  
She was dead.  
  
Mother.  
  
Draco ran towards her, kneeled down besides her and touched her blond, soft hair with an incredible gentless.  
  
So she had finally given up. The terrible, empty life she was living had finally gotten to her. He knew this would happen sooner or later, still it was rather uneblievable.  
  
He didn't feel sorry. He knew that she was relieved and so was he.  
  
She was gone. His father was gone. The house elves had probably runned away several hours ago and the Mansion was deserted. There was nothing that was keeping him here.  
  
He took a deep breath as he stood up and looked at the woman that had given birth to him.  
  
Then he walked out of the room.  
  
He didn't return to his room. He didn't need anything from there. Instead, he walked into his fathers office and took all the money from the Family Safe. Then, without even looking around, he dashed out of the office as if the air was sickening and ran down the stairs to the Hall.  
  
There, he stood for a minute and looked at the beautiful painted ceiling, the expensive furniture and paintings on the walls. Everything was lit up by the soft light of magical candle lights.  
  
So this was it. Where would he go from here? He didn't know. But he knew that he could go wherever he wanted to. The world was opening its arms and embracing him like a new found son.  
  
He would leave this life behind him, the nigthmare would finally end.  
  
Hermione.  
  
He closed his eyes and still he could see her beautiful, smiling face in front of him, even after everything that happened.  
  
"I love you," she whispered, smiled and faded away.  
  
Draco sighed.  
  
He would have to forget about her too. There was no way he would put her in this danger, not even know when he knew that she loved her. No, this even made his decision easier. He loved her too much to let her spend her best years with him, running away from place to place, hiding from Voldemort and his servants. No, that wasn't even an option.  
  
Forget about her. You will still have a good life. Even if you'll have to run from place to place, you'll be free. For the first time in your life you'll be free and you will actually have something to run from.  
  
Draco grinned at his thoughts.  
  
He was right.  
  
He looked at the Malfoy Mansion for the last time. Then he turned around and walked out through the exit. He closed the door behind him, leaving all the death and the pain with it.  
  
  
  
A/N: No dear folks, it's not over yet. The Epilogue is still to come. 


	20. The World Is A Strange Place

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Epilogue  
  
~The World is a strange place~  
  
"Did he really say that he's leaving and not coming back to Hogwarts?"  
  
"Yes, Herm. He's probably gone already," Harry spoke softly and looked at Hermione. They were sitting in the train station, waiting for the train to come, the train that would take them back to Hogwarts. Hermione looked back down on her hands.  
  
"He didn't say why? Where to?"  
  
Harry shook his head. There was no reason to tell her, that would just make things more difficult.  
  
"No, he didn't."  
  
The tears on her face had dried out. There were no tears left, everything was gone. Her heart pounded calmly and right now she was in a stage of shock where nothing seemed to matter anymore. She wanted to fall asleep and sleep for a long long time. Then she would wake up and everything would be gone. That's how she felt.  
  
She didn't know for how long they had been sitting there when she heard footsteps behind her back and the sound made her turn around, hoping for.  
  
Albus Dumbledore looked at the boy and the girl, he nodded in a symphatetic way.  
  
"We're too late, aren't we?"  
  
Hermione nodded slowly.  
  
"You don't have to go back there," she said in a weak whisper. Her red, tired eyes hurt and she had never been this week in her whole life. "He's probably gone already. The Mansion is deserted."  
  
"Well, I'd still like to take a look at it," Albus answered. "I'm sure Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape will take care of you well."  
  
Harry closed his eyes, still hearing Draco's voice in his head.  
  
"I want you to. Take good care of Hermione. You love her and I'm sure you will. But I want you to do something specific - take her to the top of the Astronomy Tower now and then. I'm sure she's going to appreciate that."  
  
".I'll talk to the both of you at Hogwarts," Dumbledore finished and disapparated from the train station.  
  
Minerva rushed towards the two students with the look of a worried mother. She didn't have that look on her face often, but she just hid it very well. The truth was that she cared about all the students very much, especially about those who came from her own House.  
  
"Thank Merlin, you're still alive.," she whispered feverishly as she zapped up two warm blankets and gave it to Harry and Hermione. "We must bring you back to the castle right away, the Hospital Wing is the definite location."  
  
Snape stood exactly in the same spot with the face of a statue.  
  
"Gone?," he repeated.  
  
Harry nodded as he wrapped himself into the blanket. "He's not coming back."  
  
  
  
Everyone was greatly relieved when the lost students returned. Everyone had been in great shock, specially because one of the students was Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. The rumours were flying around the castle and becoming more and more riddiculous for every minute. And the rumours didn't stop right away as they returned. There was still a rumour that a Slytherin boy was still gone.  
  
Blaise had managed to sneak back into the castle and when the teachers asked her about where she was, she charmed herself out of the mess by saying that she was just on a nightly visit.  
  
No one ever knew what exactly happened at the Malfoy Mansion except for Hermione, Harry and Dumbledore. And the two students were the only ones who found out about the death of Narcissa Malfoy.  
  
Harry told almost everything to Ron too, of course, right after both Hermione and Harry got out of the Hospital Wing. The only thing he didn't tell Ron about was the Reverse Necklace. He didn't know why, but he felt as if he had to keep that for himself. When Ron asked him how Harry got out of the Cage and made Voldemort disappear, Harry just said that Draco helped him.  
  
Ron didn't push it any further.  
  
Dumbledore wanted Harry to keep the necklace, not to tell anyone about it and Harry agreed. Even if the both of them knew that the necklace was dangerous, it was the only way Harry could protect himself from further attacks and kidnappings by Voldemort.  
  
He would fight for his own life.  
  
And Draco was gone. No one got any messages from him or signs. He was nowhere to be found.  
  
Harry didn't tell them about Egypt.  
  
***  
  
The rain ran down the dark castle of Hogwarts and the dark clouds were hovering in the sky, blocking the sunlight.  
  
A week had gone. A week since Harry and Hermione returned back to the castle. Hermione was in her Prefect room and for the first time it was looking as if a hurricane had just swept through it, destroying everything in its way. The books and clothes were lying on the ground and Hermione was sitting in her bed with her hands wrapped around her knees, looking out through the window, watching the rain.  
  
It was over. Everything was over.  
  
Who had won this battle? No one. There were no winners here. One of them walked away with a free mind with the demons behind him; the other one returned with a heavy heart, but with the world cheering for him.  
  
Who was she? Where was she?  
  
What would she do now? Will she ever be able to be the same again?  
  
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  
  
Draco.  
  
Even after everything he said, she still couldn't believe that he didn't love her. She knew he did. She felt it inside her heart and soul. She just didn't know why he tried to hide it.  
  
And maybe she would never find out.  
  
Where are you? Do you miss me?  
  
  
  
The day before Harry had been taking Hermione to the Top of the Astronomy Tower. They sat there and talked about everything that had happened, watching the sunset together. Harry told Hermione about his dream and his mother; she listened and understood. Nothing could surprise her anymore.  
  
He was her friend and she appreciated that. Ron was her friend too, but he didn't know. And he never would.  
  
The sunset brought back old memories. Everytime she closed her eyes, she could hear him.  
  
Soon her breath became regular. She had fallen asleep.  
  
She dreamt about a blond, tall and handsome male with an little, familiar smile in the corners of his mouth. He was walking down a lonely road with his jacket over his shoulders. He looked as if he didn't worry about anything in the whole world and whistled a familiar song. The sun was shining, the weather was beautiful and the world was waiting for him.  
  
  
  
It was beautiful. Everything was beautiful.  
  
The sun was shining up the clear and blue sky, the dark forest and the blue waters of the Lake. Everything had some sort of shimmer around it, making the place look magical. She could see everything. She could see the mountains; she could see the fields and the railway which was used by the Hogwarts Express. She could see how the earth was meeting the sky in the horizon and how the birds were flying around the castle, letting them hear their screams. She could feel the wind blowing and how it was cooling down her warm skin. She could feel, hear and see everything.  
  
She lived.  
  
Finally, she took her eyes of the view and looked at Draco.  
  
"Draco, this is beautiful." She smiled. Then she noticed that he was watching her with a strange look on his face. "What?"  
  
Slowly, a smile appeared on his face. "I looked at you. And for the first time I saw you being happy. You lived. And." A mysterious smile appeared on his face. "There's another thing I would like to show to you."  
  
"More surprises?" Hermione smiled. "Draco Malfoy, you are full of them."  
  
"I sure am." He grinned. Suddenly he leaned forwards, touched her face with his hands and kissed her softly on her lips. She felt how she was melting the kiss and she wrapped her arms around him and answered his kiss just as passionately as he did.  
  
She lived.  
  
  
  
~The End~  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: Well. This is it. The story's over. My first big story. I can't believe that I actually made it. I finished it. God, I'm beginning to get sentimental now. The first person I want to thank is my dear boyfriend, lover and Soulmate Daniel aka 'Doc Holliday'. Without you this story would never be here so you can gladly take the three quarters of the credit. You inspired me and you helped me. Your love made this story, it was also the thing that drove me to continue with it and finish it. I don't know what I would've done without you. You are Draco Malfoy, sometimes even Harry. You are all of them and you're right here in my heart. The Reviewers. God you're great! All those nice things you've said - they helped me and urged me to continue too. It's so nice to see that people actually appreciate my writings. You give me confidence and I'm really starting to believe in myself. The music. God, the music. There are several songs that helped and inspired me. "Free Like A Flying Demon" with E-Type (thank him for the action), "Only Time" and "May It Be" - Enya (the emotional crying scenes would never been as good as they are without these songs), "Drop In The Ocean" by Michelle Branch, "Don't Speak" - No Doubt. There are many more, these are just a few of them. I hope it gives you a picture. And I know that there are so many other people I should thank right now, but my mind is blank so you'll have to excuse me. Thank you, EVERYONE for being there for me and supporting me. So this is actually it. Even the thank you speech is over. You can't imagine for how long I've thought about this moment and now it's actually here. Amazing. Thank you all, again. You all have made this story, I was just the one who wrote it.  
  
Kolibri Halliwell  
  
P.S. Do you want to know how their lives are going to continue? Read "Running From The Night", the continuation to "What A Surprise" and "Gryffindor vs. Slytherin"! 


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